Bengals head to NJCAA World Series
By Tom Dodge
It wasn’t the easiest route to the NJCAA Division II World Series, but the end result made it worth the effort.
The unusual trek began early Sunday morning as the clock struck midnight and the Bengals were still playing baseball in the Region 23 tournament in Poplarville.
LSU dropped a 4-3 decision to host Pearl River and then was forced to play back-to-back games later the same day to earn a berth in the World Series.
The day continued with one of the biggest comebacks in Bengal baseball playoff history.
After trailing 8-0 in the fourth inning, Louisiana State University at Eunice outslugged Meridian Community College as the Bengals rebounded to grab an 19-11 win Sunday.
Nate Peterson and Kellen Bozeman both hit home runs for the Bengals in the win over Meridian.
“They knocked us out of the playoff last year so we definitely wanted to return the favor,” LSUE’s Boomer Blanchard said. “We were up 7-0 last year and they came back and beat us.”
“We knew it was early and we had a lot of game left,” Smith said of the 8-0 deficit. “We have been down before and we knew we had a chance once our hitting got started.”
After that exciting comeback over Meridian, LSUE then earned its third trip to the CWS in four years after defeating Pearl River 12-9 in the regional title game.
LSUE trailed early 2-0, but a three-run home run by Tyler Slocum tied the game in the third inning. LSUE added runs in the fourth with a Matt Creel home run and a Michael Billings double.
Pearl River tied the game in the 8th inning on a grand slam home run.
Tyler Slocum, Matt Creel and Kellen Bozeman all hit home runs against PRCC, but Delta Cleary’s 2- RBI double provided the decisive runs for the Bengals.
Cleary drove in Chase Blanchard and Boomer Blanchard on his hit to centerfield and Bozeman later scored Cleary for the critical three-run lead.
The tournament began well for LSUE as the Bengals open the regionals with a 9-0 win over Itawamba on Tuesday, but had to wait two days to play again as the rain washed out the action.
Matt Creel hit two home runs with four hits at five at-bats, scored four times and drove in five runs to help lead the LSUE Bengals to a 12-4 win over Mississippi Gulf Coast Friday.
And if the hits weren’t enough, Creel was also the winning pitcher as he limited Gulf Coast to four runs on eight hits as he struck out nine, walked one and had one hitbatsman.
The Bengals have made two trips to the World Series, winning the national title in 2006 and finishing third in 2004.
“We have to play hard, play our game and not beat ourselves,” infielder Boomer Blanchard said of the keys to bringing home another national championship.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Coming up in Sunday’s edition - A look back to the 2006 National Championship through the memories of three redshirt sophomores from that team.