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Falcons WALK-OFF with 6-3 victory over Brusly Panthers.
Freshman Joseph Dominique delivers a 3-run walk-off dinger on the final day of play in the
Loranger Invitational.
PHOTO GALLERY.
SUMMIT, MS—It’s a summer day. You are ten years old. You walk outside with a baseball glove and bat in
your hand. You are waiting for your mom to take you to little league practice. Your mother’s running late.
Your mind wanders—you fantasize …
It’s the big game. The score is tied. There are two outs with two on base and the count
is full. You look at your coach. You look at your teammates. You take a breath and swing your favorite bat a
couple times just to relax. You step back into the batter’s box. You focus. You see nothing but the
pitcher looking back at you. There is that momentary stare between competitors.
Suddenly a fast ball is
coming your way. You swing. It feels right. You look up and you hear in your mind the television announcer
saying … “it got a chance, the left fielder is back, back, back … it’s out of here! A home run … the
kid has done it …” You hear the crowd going wild and you float around the bases trying to remember
to step on each bag. Your teammates are waiting. You arrive at home plate and the celebration begins …
Just as suddenly your mother taps you on the shoulder and says, “are you listening? Get in the car.
It’s time to go.” …
For Joseph Dominique every player’s childhood dream came true
Sunday as the Saint Thomas freshman delivered a three-run, walk-off dinger to upset 3A Brusly 6-3 on
the final day of play at the Loranger Invitational Tournament hosted at Southwest Community College in
Summit, MS. The home run was the only one hit in the two-day event.
“Certainly a special moment for Joe (Dominique) and us, and while some might say,
it is just summer ball, we may look back on this in eight months see that this was the moment that really
got us going,” said BJ Corr, the Saint Thomas skipper. “Cam (Cameron Loria) did a great job for us on the
mound and got a couple key hits for us.”
The Falcons entered the contest with two seniors and a junior out with injuries and
the regular catcher Jonah Mollere out for the day. “We never make excuses, and I never let our kids do that,”
continued Corr. “We expect guys to step up and make plays and just do what needs to be done. Brock Cooper
our regular shortstop played catcher today and we had freshman Brad Shafer at second. They all made some
keys plays for us.”
Loria and the Falcon defense kept the Brusly Panthers in check through the first three
innings as Loria gave up a single in the first and third and sent the Panthers down in order in the second.
In the bottom half of the third, Loria helped his cause reaching on a one-out error and stealing second. Cooper
cashed in the mistake following with a double to score Loria and the Falcons led 1-0 after three.
Brusly answered in the top of the fourth as starting pitcher Holden Tassin hit a lead-off
double and scored on ground out by Tanner Crosby after Tassin reached third on a wild pitch.
The Panthers seized the lead in the top of the fifth when Luke LeBlanc led off with a single and after a
walk by Cronston Adkins scored on a single by Cameron Willis. Willis stole second and scored on a fielder’s
choice by Michael Gasron before the side was retired. The Falcons answered in the bottom half when
senior Tyler Bradley kept the inning alive with a two-out single and scored on a double by Loria.
Cooper was next delivering a double to send the tying run home before a routine ground out ended the inning.
Sophmore Sam Sciortino relieved Loria on the mound in the top of the sixth after issuing a
lead-off walk to Crosby. Callen Prejeun was next for the Panthers reaching on a fielder choice and going onto
second on a Falcon throwing error. With one out, Saint Thomas short-sacker Luke Bleakley combined with
first baseman Tyler Bratcher and third baseman Layton Fugarino to turn a double play that threw
out Brusly’s Landon Andre at first and Prejeun at third when it was ruled that Prejeun
moved his hand off the bag. The Falcons infield heroics ended the Panther threat and set up
the walk-off win for Saint Thomas in the bottom half as all tournament games were
designated for six innings only in regulation.
The Falcons set the table quickly for Dominique in the final half inning as Fugarino
reached on an error and Bratcher was hit by a pitch. Junior Johnathan Camelo delivered a sacrifice bunt to
move the runners over to second and third and after a deep fly ball to left by freshman Brad Shafer that was
caught for the second out, Dominique cleared the bases with a three-run shot for the victory.
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