Bengals reclaim national title!
By Tom Dodge
MILLINGTON, Tenn. – For the second time in three seasons, the Louisiana State University at Eunice Bengals are leaving USA Stadium as national champions.
Bengal pitcher Ryan Boudreaux struck out Scott Diggers and then the team stormed the mound and piled on top of each other, celebrating the 17-5 win over Lenoir Community College in the NJCAA Division II title game Thursday night.
“It seemed like that last pitch took 10 seconds,” Boudreaux said of the final toss. “I still don’t believe we are national champs.”
“Our guys got hot at the right time,” head coach Jeff Willis said. “Our guys worked their tails off the whole year and when they got swinging the bats in the regional tournament and that carried over to the World Series.
“They have been on a mission since back early in the fall when they said their team goal was to win a national championship. They worked extremely hard this year and they accomplished that.”
LSUE had defeated the Lancers 13-3 on Wednesday, but Lenoir won the loser’s bracket final to earn the right for a second chance at the Bengals.
The Lancers jumped out to a 2-0 lead (just as they did on Wednesday) in the top of the first inning when Kent Burford and Ryan Norton each singled to center and after an infield error, Burford scored for a 1-0 lead.
Todd Seymour singled to left with two outs and plated Norton as Lenoir held a brief two-run advantage.
LSUE closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run over the right field wall by Delta Cleary.
The Bengals added three more runs in the bottom of the second as the LSUE fans began to sense a title was in their grasp.
Tournament MVP Perry Smith began his 4-for-4 performance with a double to right field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nate Peterson for a 3-1 lead.
Brady Bourque singled, stole second and raced home on Chase Blanchard’s single to centerfield.
Boomer Blanchard then doubled to left field to score Chase Blanchard who had moved into scoring position after a stolen base.
The Bengals chipped in two more runs in the bottom of the third inning when Kellen Bozeman was hit by a pitch and Tyler Slocum doubled. They both scored on Smith’s single to centerfield as LSUE forged ahead 6-2.
A five-run explosion in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the Bengal faithful plenty to cheer about as LSUE moved ahead 11-2.
Chase Blanchard reached on a fielder’s choice and Cleary drew a two-out walk before the Bengal duo scored on a triple to right field by Matt Creel.
Bozeman then doubled to center and Creel scored as the Bengals pushed the second Lenoir pitcher off the mound.
Slocum was hit by a pitch and Smith singled to center to plate Bozeman. After Bourque was plunked to load the bases, Peterson advanced to first on catcher’s interference which allowed Slocum to score and the romp continued.
LSUE pushed ahead 12-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Boomer Blanchard launched a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall.
After holding Lenoir scoreless for four innings, Boudreaux allowed Brian Mills to single and score on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth inning as the Lancers closed the gap to 12-3.
But LSUE quickly responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame when Slocum singled and scored on Smith’s double, pushing another Lenoir pitcher from the game.
Bourque then doubled into the gap at right center field to plate Smith and the Bengals led 14-3.
Lenoir’s Burford hit a solo shot in the top of the seventh inning to push the Lancers closer, 14-4 but the Bengals quickly responded once again.
Cleary and Bozeman each reached base on errors and Slocum walked to load the bases.
Smith hit a sacrifice to right field to score Cleary.
Bourque singled to centerfield to push Bozeman in and another Lancer pitcher out of the game.
Peterson completed the three-run seventh inning and the Bengal scoring barrage when he singled and scored Slocum for a 17-4 margin.
Lenoir scored the game’s final run in the top of the eighth when Taylor Ginn doubled and scored on Bud Lanier’s fielder’s choice.
But the Lancers were shut down over the final five batters and the Bengals celebrated their second national championship in a dog pile on the pitcher’s mound.
“It made the pollsters look like geniuses right now,” Willis said of the match-up between the top two teams in the country in the title game. “We were number one before falling behind Lenoir. We felt we had something to prove and our guys came out and proved it.”