Blue Jays stun CLA in playoff opener

BATON ROUGE – The trek to the state baseball tournament began with a road win for the Blue Jays as No. 19 St. Edmund grabbed a 7-5 win over No. 14 Christian Life Academy Thursday in Baton Rouge.
The Blue Jays (12-16) will entertain No. 3 Central Catholic of Morgan City (25-4) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at North Park for the regional round of the Class 1-A playoffs.
“I’m proud of my boys, we’ve played through adversity all year with at least two starters out every game and they played their way into the playoffs,” St. Edmund head coach Ryan Henderson said. “They went on the road and beat a higher ranked team and now We’re one of 16 teams left playing baseball in the state.”
St. Edmund jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Drew Brown singled and scored on a hit by Christian Walker.
CLA (18-12) tied the game in the bottom of the frame when Sterling O’Bryant walked and scored on Davis Alford’s two-out double.
The Crusaders moved ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the third as the game began to turn into a see-saw battle.
Michael Stinson walked and scored on a double by O’Bryant, who crossed home plate on a single to right by Brock Sampite.
The homestanding Crusaders added a run in the bottom of the fourth when Jacob Williams singled to center and scored on Garrett Smith’s hit to left.
Trailing 4-1, the Blue Jays exploded for four runs in the top of the fifth to grab a 5-4 lead.
Drake Dubois opened the inning with a single, Alex Hunt reached on an error and Gibson LaFleur was hit by a pitch.
Brown was also hit by a pitch to push across Dubois.
Hunt scored on a sacrifice fly by Walker, while Brown scored on a triple to center by Kramer Rozas.
The Blue Jays added two insurance run in the top of the sixth as both Ross LaFleur and Dubois walked and scored to push St. Edmund ahead, 7-3.
The Crusaders pulled closer in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jacob Williams walked and scored on a double by Smith but CLA could not overtake the Blue Jays.