KIRKWOOD — When the ball left his bat, Lafayette High senior Tripp Johns thought he had a home run.
“But that wind, it just knocked it down,” Johns recalled of his ninth-inning blast that one-hopped the fence in right field at Vianney on Saturday afternoon. “But that’s OK. I’m just happy to get the hit because I knew it was going to get us the run we needed. And that’s the run that helped us win the game.”
John’s one-out shot over the head of the Vianney right fielder resulted in a run-scoring double that produced the deciding run in the Lancers’ 4-3 win over Vianney for the Class 6 District 2 championship game.
This week, fifth-seeded Lafayette (20-12-1) upset fourth-seeded Marquette 4-1, top-seeded Eureka 5-3 and second-seeded Vianney 4-3 en route to the district crown. The Lancers advance to play District 1 champion Jackson (32-6) in the quarterfinals next Saturday. Jackson beat Mehlville 9-2 on Saturday at Northwest High.
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The quarterfinal will feature two of the hottest teams in the state. Jackson enters with a 16-game win streak while Lafayette comes in after winning a district that featured a handful of the state’s best Class 6 programs.
Saturday’s loss ended a 30-6 season for Vianney.
“We’ve managed to get hot at the right time,” first-year Lafayette coach Cole DuPont said. “Our defense is outstanding and over the last month or so we’ve been playing some clean and solid baseball. All year, I told our guys that we play a tough schedule for a reason. We struggled at times with that early, but now, these guys are showing up, playing hard and getting the job done.”
The Lancers led through much of the afternoon, but saw Vianney rally with single runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to send the game to extra innings. With one out in the top of the ninth, Lafayette’s Jackson Weidner drew a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch.
He scored on Johns’ blast off the fence in right field.
“I just got the barrel to the ball,” Johns said. “We were a little down when they tied it up, but in the ninth, that was an electric moment for me and for my team.”
Lafayette reliever Sam Williams (3-2) retired Vianney with a flyout and two strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
The Lancers set a tone for the afternoon when they scored in the top of the first inning without getting a hit. After Xander Schmitt was hit by pitch to lead off the game, he stole second and then advanced on a pair of groundouts. Paul Pratte picked up the RBI.
Vianney tied it in the third inning after a pair of one-out walks, a forceout and a two-out run-scoring single to right center by J.D. Dohrmann, the Griffins’ starting pitcher.
But Lafayette came right back to regain the lead in the top of the fourth. Pratte walked with one out and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Calllahan. Aiden Bray followed with a run-scoring hit past the diving attempt of Vianney shortstop Oliver Degenhardt.
The Lancers, who managed two runs with just one hit off Vianney starter Dohrmann, greeted reliever Charlie Spoonhour in the top of the sixth with a single from Will Gebhart. Lafayette’s Pratte followed with a bunt to advance the runner. On the bunt play, only a diving stop by Vianney second baseman Trey Jozwiakowski kept Lafayette from adding to its lead.
But after a strikeout, the Lancers did go up 3-1 when Bray greeted Vianney reliever Jadyn Ferguson with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Vianney’s Ryker Benz led off the home fifth inning with a double into the left-field corner. But Marquette starter Tyson Oswald responded by striking out the next three Griffin hitters. The junior righthander pitched into the sixth, allowing three hits and striking out nine.
Vianney rallied to score single runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to even the score. In the sixth, Dohrmann led off with a walk and one out later, the Griffins’ David Broughton singled to put an end to Oswald’s outing.
On in relief, Williams walked Jozwiakowski to load the bases and then allowed a run-scoring single by Degenhardt that went off the glove of a diving Gebhardt at third base. The threat ended with a pair of infield popups as Lafayette went to the seventh inning leading 3-2.
But Vianney kept coming in the seventh. Josh Van Deman, the No. 9 hitter, led off with a single and Colin Mueth followed by reaching safely on a bunt. After another bunt to advance the runners, Williams got a strikeout for the second out. But Jozwiakowski followed with a single to left that scored Van Deman with the tying run.
Mueth also tried to score on the play, but he was cut down at the plate thanks to a strong throw from left fielder Callahan.
“That’s baseball, right? You get opportunities and you need to capitalize,” Vianney coach Dave Stewart said. “Not taking anything away from Lafayette _ they’re kind of like a wild-card team that comes on strong to play some great baseball here when it matters most — but we had three or four situations today with guys in scoring position and we didn’t execute. We weren’t able to finish things off today.”
Stewart continued: “I know the message sounds cliché, but I told our guys to keep their heads up. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way, but that’s how you learn and that’s how you grow. We appreciate the work these guys did in a 30-win season and for all the hard work our seniors did for this program.”
Lafayette has won 11 of its last 13 games. The only losses in that span came against Eureka (32-4) and Francis Howell (29-10).
