David Crochet
July 14, 2009
Houma house fire kills 4 pets
July 16, 2009The odds clearly favored Vandebilt-based Robichaux Ford before the start of Saturday afternoon’s Swampland Championship game,
Unlike their opponents, the Terrebonne High -based Acadian Express Diamondbacks, Robichaux Ford entered the game after one day’s rest. The Diamondbacks were forced to play a double header after Mother Nature altered the playoff schedule earlier in the week.
The Diamondbacks defeated the Capital One Cardinals of E.D. White and had to play another game against Robichaux Ford 30 minutes later.
Heat in the 90-degree range clearly put the odds behind Robichaux Ford.
Two late Diamondbacks’ errors helped Robichaux Ford to squeak out a 5-3 win at Berwick High School to earn Vandebilt its first Swampland championship.
Robichaux Ford head coach Josh Constant said the win is a testament to his team’s newfound focus after an early exit from the playoffs against Sam Houston this past season.
“Our goal coming out is to win the championship, no matter what season we’re playing in,” he said. “This team came into the summer ready to work hard, and they really stepped up. It’s a good chance for us to move forward.”
After a scoreless inning and a half, it was the Diamondbacks who struck first in the bottom of the second.
With two outs, designated hitter Stephen Thomas ripped a single to get on base.
Nelson Funk followed with a walk before Kendall Martinez hit a double to left field, scoring the first run of the game.
Tyler Thacker followed that with a two-run double of his own, and the Diamondbacks led early 3-0.
Robichaux Ford didn’t take long to respond, however, using the top of the third inning to tie the game.
Brady Domangue started the rally with a lead-off single.
Three batters later, Sam Pitre’s double to left field scored two runs, closing the gap to one.
The very next batter, Eric Marmande, doubled off the left field wall to tie the game and put Robichaux Ford back in it.
The team’s pitcher (Domangue) went into shutdown mode, allowing one hit and striking out four batters the remainder of the game.
He finished the night with seven strikeouts and the win.
“When you make him mad, he turns it up a notch,” Constant said of his pitcher’s effort. “It gets real tough for the other guys after that.”
Robichaux Ford got their break in the top of the sixth, when two Diamondbacks’ errors pushed two unearned runs across the plate and put them up for good 5-3.
Diamondbacks head coach Tony Martinez said he gives all credit to Robichaux Ford, but said the result may have been different had Mother Nature not altered the playoff schedule.
“My hat’s off to them, they are a great team and they earned it,” he said. “But we had guys going down with cramps all game long, so the heat really got to us. Even though we didn’t win, to overcome what this team had to today, we’re champions in my book.”
With summer baseball officially over, both teams plan to use their success in Swampland play to improve their regular baseball seasons.
“We have a lot of togetherness and team unity right now,” Martinez explained. “We put a target on our back, but that’s the way we want it.
