Highlights: Saltaformaggio carries Holy Cross to walk-off win over St. Aug in Gm 3

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Luca Saltaformaggio was on the bench earlier this season, but he was the star for Holy Cross in Saturday’s Division 1 Select baseball playoff tiebreaker.

Game 3 of the first-round matchup between the Tigers and the St. Augustine Purple Knights came down to the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and one runner on base. Holy Cross trailed, 2-0.

With two balls and one strike on Saltaformaggio, the junior first baseman smashed a two-run homerun over “The Big Monster” at Holy Cross Park to force extra innings.

Saltaformaggio would come to the plate again in the bottom of the ninth inning in a much lower-pressure situation. With the bases loaded, he turned on a hard-hit grounder to the St. Augustine shortstop, who was unable to field the ball cleanly, and scored the runner from third.

Holy Cross advances central Louisiana to the regional round date to take on No. 3 Alexandria (21-8, 6-4 in District 2-5A).