Houma Christian falls to Zwolle

One terrible inning is all it took to end Houma Christian’s quest for their first state title since joining the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.

The Warriors permitted six runs on five hits in the second inning against No. 2 seeded Zwolle in its 6-3 Class B semi-final loss Friday on Alexandria’s Bringhurst Field.

“They have a solid lineup one through nine and they just hit everything we threw at them in that second inning,” said Chuck Battaglia, Houma Christian’s 12-year head coach.

In the top of the second, Drew Remedies belted a two-run double to spark the Hawks (25-3) scoring. Next up, Trystan Ezernack hit a double, which scored Remedies and gave the Hawks a 3-0 lead. An RBI single, RBI double and an error scored the final three runs, driving the lead up to 6-0.

“We out-hit them in the game,” said Battaglia. “The difference is our hits were spread out and theirs all came in one big inning.”

The Warriors (16-14) did not score until the top of the fifth. Joshua Crowdus cracked an RBI triple to centerfield to plate Taylor Folmer and Jordan Trosclair (2-for-4, two RBIs) hit a single to score Crowdus, cutting the deficit 6-2.

In the seventh, after Garrett Charpentier (2-for-4) tripled, Trosclair hit another single to plate him. With one on and one out, Zwolle-starter Christopher Remedies punched out the last two Warriors’ batters for the win.

“They showed a lot of class, a lot of heart coming back like they did,” Battaglia said. “It would have been easy to give up when we were down 6-0, but they didn’t. That shows the kind of character our kids have.”

Christopher got the complete game victory, fanning nine but allowing 10 hits. Crowdus endured the loss throwing 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with one stikeout and one hit batter.

Jonathan Haydel and Brandon Crane finished in relief.

Crane and Caleb Dupre went 2-for-3 at the plate for Houma Christian.

The Warriors came into the playoffs seeded 19th. They pulled off upset victories over 14th-seeded Doyline (9-4), third-seeded Maurepus (3-2) and sixth-seeded Oak Hill (8-2) to get to the semifinals.

“I knew we had what it took to get there, especially playing in the district we did,” said Battaglia. “Three of the top four teams [in Class B] were in our district, so we approached the playoffs like another district game.”

This year’s senior class of Crowdus, Folmar, Trosclair, Dupre and Josiah Armstrong will be missed.

“Losing five seniors, especially in a small school like us, it’s going to be extremely tough to replace them,” said Battaglia. “It’s almost like I’m losing some sons in the process. They have set a standard that is really high, and it’s up to the younger guys to want to keep reaching for that.”

Houma Christian won five state baseball championships as a member of the Louisiana Christian Athletic Association before joining the LHSAA in 2004.

Crowdus, Trosclair and Dupre were seventh and eighth-graders on Houma Christian’s last two state championship teams in 2003 and 2004.

“We knew we would take our early lumps for a couple of years, but we thought by the time they were seniors, we could compete well,” Battaglia said of the move up.

Next season, the Warriors will be lead by senior Brandon Crane, juniors Garrett Charpentier and Donnie Naquin.

The rest of the team will be comprised of two sophomores, eighth and seventh graders.

“Hopefully, they can work together, pull together, stick together for a couple of years and we’ll be strong again,” said Battaglia.