Catholic-Baton Rouge appeared to clinch its first-ever championship three-peat with a walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday — celebratory dog pile and all.
The No. 2 Bears finally got to enjoy that experience officially in the bottom of the 15th inning as an RBI single by Louisiana (Lafayette) football signee Harrison Kidder to re-punctuate the 3-2 victory against No. 1 Brother Martin in the longest title game in LHSAA history.
Senior left fielder Jude Schneider drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, but rushed to join his teammates in celebrating in the infield before going to first base.
The Crusaders alertly threw over to first amid the emotional moment and were awarded the out to erase the run and extend the pitchers’ duel.
But sophomore Myles Auxt eventually led off the bottom of the 15th with a single, advanced to second on a Schneider bunt and came screaming home for the Division-I Select title on Kidder’s game-winner.
Catholic never trailed in Thursday’s season opener which a complete-game effort by Ole Miss signee Lucas Lawrence and a four-run third inning at the plate helped win, 6-2.
Brother Martin, the 2025 runner-up, pounced early Friday with a pair of runs in the top of the first on a pair of hits and an error.
But Southeastern Louisiana signee Mills Richardson powered through the early adversity to allow little else in nine innings of work.
The righty finished with five strikeouts, six hits, one walk and one earned run in his final high school game.
Catholic pulled back even with a similar fourth inning with two runs on two hits and an error.
Neither team would officially score again for more than 10 innings.
Senior righty Drake Amedee and junior righty Nolan Amato combined for the strong performance on the mound for the Crusaders with three strikeouts and one earned run each in nine innings and 5 1/3 innings, respectively.
Fellow senior righty Tanner Forbes relieved Richardson with six scoreless innings, striking out two batters and allowing just four hits to earn the pitching victory.
The Bears missed an opportunity in the ninth as a two-out rally ultimately stranded three runners in unconventional fashion, but Forbes and company continued to survive threats by the Crusaders until Kidder could finally call game with his first hit in seven at-bats.
Brother Martin stranded multiple runners in the seventh, 10th and 12th innings.
Junior center fielder Dekohta Jones finished 2-for-6 for Catholic with a triple and a run, senior first baseman Hayes Segar scored a run and senior third baseman Kooper Childs had a double.
Junior center fielder Brady McCluskey led the Crusaders with a 4-for-4 night with two walks and a run, and junior shortstop Brody Shannon and junior left fielder Dominic Toten had two hits each.
