Buras' Walk-Off Homerun Wins Series For White Team
LOUISIANA SI - With two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning senior Rhett Buras lifted a towering shot over the right field wall for a two-run,walk-off homerun lifting the White Team to a 7-5 win in game four of the 2003 Louisiana Baseball Fall World Series, clinching the series 3-1 and a steak dinner for each one of his teammates.
The game put an end to the fall season for the Cajuns baseball program and guarantees each member of the White Team a steak at the annual Steak 'N Beans Supper to be held Wednesday, Oct. 22 - the prize for the winner of the Fall World Series.
Buras' shot put an end to 5 1/2 innings of scoreless ball and helped the White team atone for a ninth-inning snafu in which they squandered a bases loaded, one-out situation with the chance to end the game in regulation.
The game appeared to be headed for the 12th inning after Vermilion Team relief pitcher Jeremy Whipple retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 11th.
However, Brad Saloom beat out a dribbler down the first-base line to keep the inning alive and set up Buras' game-winning shot.
The home run was Buras' second hit of the game as he joined four other White Team members with at least two hits. Josh Landry led the White Team with three hits. The 3-4-5-6 hitters were a combined 8-for-19.
Thad Montgomery (1-1) avenged a loss in game three by earning the win in relief after pitching three innings and allowing just two hits to the 11 batters he faced.
Whipple, who served up the homer to Buras, suffered the loss after throwing 7 2/3 innings of relief. He had kept the White Team scoreless since the fifth inning.
The White team had a chance to win the game in the ninth. Jason Rodriguez tripled into the left center field gap with one out to put the winning run 90 feet from home.
That was followed by back-to-back intentional walks by the Vermilion Team to load the bases in order to create a force play at any base.
The strategy paid dividends as Whipple induced a ground ball to third from Chris McGuirt from which Justin Bourque fired a strike to catcher Ryan Core for the force play at home.
Whipple worked his way out of the jam on the next at bat as Justin Morgan grounded out to second for the final out of the inning to force extras.
Both pitchers breezed through each half of the tenth inning retiring both sides in order to set-up the dramatic finish in the eleventh..
Montgomery did his part for the White team by retiring the Vermilion batters in order in the top half of the eleventh to give way to Buras’ series clinching shot in the bottom half of the inning.
White team senior third baseman Dallas Morris led both teams in the series with a .444 batting average (8-18), scoring five runs with two stolen bases.
In addition to Buras’ series winning homerun the senior first baseman batted .353 (6-17) with a double, triple, and six runs scored over the four games.
North Central Texas JC transfer Justin Merendino led both teams with six RBI in the series while playing infield for the White team. Vermilion team senior first baseman Phillip Hawke followed with 5 RBI’s of his own.
Freshman infielder Devon Bourque led the Vermilion team in hitting with a .400 (6-15) average.
Other notable offensive stats for the Vermilion squad included Howard College JC transfer Leonard Guerrero’s .375 average with two homeruns and Seminole JC transfer John Coker’s .333 average and four stolen bases.
Louisiana will open the 2004 season with a three-game series at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field against Sam Houston State beginning Friday, Feb. 13.
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Louisiana Releases 2004 Baseball Schedule
