Brother Martin comes back to beat John Curtis and advance in playoffs

New Orleans — Brother Martin scored the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the 7th inning with 2 outs, to complete the 7-6 comeback victory over John Curtis. The Crusaders took the LHSAA Division I quarterfinal best-of-three series (2-0) to advance to the state semifinals. John Curtis got out to a 6-1 lead through the 5th inning, but Brother Martin started to chip away at that 5-run deficit in the top of the 6th. They got the bases loaded with no outs and were able to bring-in 3 runs to cut it to 6-4 heading into the 7th. In the top of the 7th with runners on second and third with two outs, Shane Griffin came-up with the base hit to right. That scored Brennan Stuprich easily and then Tre Morgan made the incredibly acrobatic play to avoid the tag at home and score also, tying the game at 6. Right after, Julian Oubre kept it going and Griffin was able to score the go-ahead run for the Crusaders. In the bottom of the 7th, Brother Martin finished it off with the game-ending double play. “These kids have been resilient all year,” said Brother Martin Head Baseball Coach Jeff Lupo. “When we talked a couple weeks ago I talked a whole lot about their character and the only thing I kept thinking about going into that last inning is that we’ve been here before and hopefully that experience would pay-off. They had the discipline. Brennan got us started and then they had the discipline to lay-off some close pitches, tough pitches and with two outs a guy showed his character and he came through. He got a big hit when we needed it and capitalized on a mistake and couldn’t be more proud of them.” Next-up for Brother Martin is their semifinal match-up with St. Paul’s School on Thursday in Sulphur, with a trip to the state championship on the line.