I-A BASEBALL: Crusaders raise another trophy, claim Southern Region title

For Faith Lutheran’s baseball team, winning trophies is becoming old hat.

So when first baseman Brandon Davis squeezed the final out of the Crusaders 8-5 win over Boulder City in the Division I-A Southern Region championship game at Sierra Vista on Saturday, there was no dogpile on the pitcher’s mound or even a Gatorade shower for head coach Blair Neagle.

In fact, if not for the players posing for photos with the trophy, this seemed like just another regular-season win for the two-time defending I-A state champions.

“This feels good, and I’m very proud of these guys,” Neagle said. “After losing all those seniors last year, these guys committed to the challenge of getting back here. They worked hard every day and did all the little things right. Even though we gave up 13 free bases today, they scrapped around and found a way to win. Now, we get one day to enjoy it before we start focusing on next week.”

Both teams advance to the I-A state tournament, which begins on Thursday.

After Faith Lutheran took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, Boulder City took advantage of five walks from Crusaders’ starter Dominic Grant to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning. Grant only last 1 2/3 innings.

The Crusaders responded with a run in the bottom of the second to tie the game, then took a 4-2 lead in the third inning on Blake Giuliani’s two-run single.

Faith Lutheran (28-6) took control of the game in the fourth inning, scoring four runs.

Joshua Harmony had an RBI double, and Zach Trageton and Greg Sylvester had RBI singles to push the lead to 7-2. Sylvester later scored on passed ball to make it 8-2.

Kyle Poser, normally the team’s closer, pitched five innings in relief of Grant to pick up the win. Poser gave up three runs on four hits, walked four and hit two batters. The Crusaders’ normally solid defense committed four errors behind Poser.

Trageton got the final out to record the save.

“Our pitching coach does a great job, and we simulate a lot of games,” Neagle said. “We knew (Poser) could do it. We’ve been blessed all year to have our starters go deep in games, and we knew he was capable of that.”

Giuliani went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Crusaders at the plate. Trageton went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Harmonay went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Mike Morelli went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI to lead the Eagles (24-11), and teammate Nolan Desantis had two RBIs.

“The important thing this tournament did was give them the confidence to know they can get it done, even when they don’t have their best day,” Neagle said. “You just have to keep playing. It’s a seven inning ball game, and every pitch means something so you cannot lose your focus for even one pitch.”