Barbe edges Rummel for 5A baseball title

NEW ORLEANS — Barbe designated hitter Bryce Jordan went 1-for-1 with a sacrifice bunt and three RBIs, and pitcher Taylor Butler threw five scoreless innings in relief as top-seeded Barbe claimed the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s Class 5A state baseball title with a 3-2 win over Archbishop Rummel on Sunday at Tulane’s Turchin Stadium.

Jordan was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after driving in a run with a sacrifice bunt in the first and the game-winning runs with a two RBI single in the third.

Butler came on in relief of starter Gunner Leger (6-1) to begin the third inning and allowed one single and three walks the rest of the way to earn the victory.

The state championship is the sixth for Barbe (33-6) dating to 1998 and the Buccaneers’ first since defeating Sulphur 2-1 in Lafayette in 2008. Rummel finished the season at 26-11.

Gavin Cecchini had two of Barbe’s four hits and got things going in the bottom of the first when he reached on a leadoff single, advanced on a wild pitch and a stolen base. He later scored on Jordan’s safety squeeze.

Rummel answered in the top of the second when centerfielder Scott Hale and third baseman Zachary Schmidt hit back-to-back, two-out RBI singles to grab a 2-1 lead.

But Butler retired the first five batters he faced and did not allow a hit until the final inning.

Raiders starter Justin Sinibaldi retired the first two batters in the third inning. However, he walked Barbe’s Kennon Fontenot and Beau Jordan. The pair successfully executed a double steal to set up Jordan’s two-run single to center field to account for the final score.

Sinibaldi (2-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four in 4.1 innings. Zachary Thiac recorded the final two outs of the fifth inning, and Connor McWilliams tossed the final inning for the Raiders.

Leger went two innings for Barbe, giving up two runs on five hits with a walk and one strikeout.

Rummel was unable to capitalize on a pair of scoring chances. The Raiders had runners on the corners with two outs in the first and had a runner in scoring position with one away in the sixth.

Leger stopped the first threat by getting Spencer Veit to fly out to center field, and Butler sandwiched a strikeout and a fly ball to left around a walk five innings later to make the one-run lead hold up.