North Vermilion baseball wins in dramatic fashion; plays home next

By: William Weathers

BRUSLY – It was all North Vermilion’s Ryan Meaux could do to hold back his tears.
The thought of having his high school career end, along with four other seniors, started rushing through Meaux’s mind when the Patriots trailed by three runs in top of the seventh with two out.
“I was sitting on the bench ready to start crying,” Meaux said. “It could have been the last game for me and the four other seniors. We were all looking at each other like, ‘what’s going on’?
For 6.2 innings of Tuesday’s Class 3A state regional game not a whole lot went right for North Vermilion, which uncharacteristically committed four errors and ace pitcher Donald Comeaux left after five innings with a three-run deficit.
The Patriots, though, never wavered and on three separate occasions delivered in the clutch when down to their final strike, rallying in the seventh to tie the game and it was Meaux’s two-run double in the eighth and three innings of scoreless relief that resulted in a 7-5 victory over No. 7 Brusly.
“When we got down 5-2, all we had on our mind was to keep scratching, keep scratching to keep us going,” Meaux said. “To keep us fighting. We just came up with some good hits. We came up clutch and got the ‘W’.
The dramatic turn of events enable North Vermilion (24-5) to host No. 2 John Curtis in a state quarterfinal to be played either Sunday or Monday.
“We have a lot of upperclassmen that have been playing,” North Vermilion coach Jeremy Trahan said. “We have tons of three year starters. Those guys believed even though we didn’t play like we were capable.”
Brusly, a state semifinalist the past two years, appeared to have won the game in the seventh when starting pitcher Austin Reich got Seth Patin swinging at strike three.
However, the ball kicked high off home plate and into the stands, allowing Patin to reach first and load the bases. Connor Dupuy and Ty Desormeaux followed with consecutive walks to score two runs and tied the game at 5-5.
The inning was earlier fueled with three straight hits from Ryan Thompson and Meaux with Charlie Gallusser driving in a run with a single to left on a full count.
Meaux (7-1) came in the bottom of the sixth after Comeaux had thrown 53 of 87 pitches for strikes. The senior right-hander allowed four hits, five runs (two earned), walked two, hit two batters and struck out four.
Meaux gave up two hits, stranding two runners at second in both the sixth and seventh and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, getting a fielder’s choice with Desormeaux flipping to Dupuy at second to end the game.
“You never know with baseball,” Trahan said. “Some days you’re going to come to the park and you’re not going to have your best stuff. That’s why you play it. That’s why I’m glad we kept fighting.”
Meaux (4-for-5, 3 RBIs) had four of North Vermilion’s 10 hits but none bigger than his go-ahead double, driving the first pitch from reliever Connor Clouatre into the gap in left-center field, scoring Chance Carriere and Thompson.
The Patriots led 2-0 in the top of the third with an unearned run in the second and Meaux’s RBI-single to score Taylor Abshire, who led off the third with a single.
Brusly took advantage of three of North Vermilion’s four errors for two unearned runs and had a pair of hits that resulted in a 5-2 lead after five innings.
“It means a lot,” Meaux said of his team’s home quarterfinal matchup with Curtis. “This is big for us. This last year for us is going to be something special, especially with this game. It’s going to be something we’ll have on our minds for the rest of our lives. We’re never going to forget this game.”