The Newman Greenies and Notre Dame Pioneers came into their best-of-three Division III Select quarterfinals series with winning streaks of 15 games and 11 games, respectively.
Each left with their streaks ended because of some incredible baseball in a doubleheader at Avenger Park in New Orleans on Saturday.
The Pioneers (28-11), who were down to their final strike with two outs twice in the seventh inning, rallied on a two-run single by Wes Duplechin for a 3-2 victory in Game 1. Christian Sauska and the Greenies (25-7) countered with a 2-1 victory in Game 2.
The teams will play a decisive Game 3 Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. on VSN, with the winner hosting 11th-seeded Dunham next weekend in a best-of-three semifinals series.
If Newman wins, they will make the semifinals for the first time since they won the Class 2A state championship in 2003. Notre Dame last made the semis in 2023 as the 3-seed.
Here are the line scores pertinent info from the first two games:
GAME 1
LINESCORE
(10) Notre Dame – 001 000 2 – 3 | 7 | 2
(2) Newman – 100 100 0 – 2 | 4 | 0
TOP HITTERS
Notre Dame (27-10): Wes Duplechin, 1-3, 2RBIs, SB; Parker Menard, 1-3, RBI.
Newman (24-7): Jack Falgoust, 1-3, R, RBI, 2SB; Charles Wilson, 2B, RBI; Malcolm Schairer, 1-3, R, SB.
DECIDING PITCHERS
WIN: Mike Zaunbrecher (6-3), 7IP, 2R, 1ER, 4H, 2BB, 3K.
LOSS: Collier Villere (4-2), 2.2IP, 2R, 2ER, 3H, 1BB, 2K.
WP: None. IBB: None. Pitches-strikes: Zaunbrecher 85-54; Falgoust 86-45; Villere 48-31. Weather at first pitch: 72, sunny. Time of game: 1:52.
GAME 2
LINESCORE
(2) Newman – 110 000 0 – 2 | 5 | 3
(10) Notre Dame – 001 000 0 – 1 | 9 | 0
TOP HITTERS
Newman (25-7): Atticus LaFleur, 1-3, 3B, RBI; Jack Falgoust, 1-3, R, SB; Benjamin Singer, 1-3, RBI.
Notre Dame (21-12): Chris Holmes, 2-4, 3B; Drew Lejeune, 2-4.
DECIDING PITCHERS
WIN: Christian Sauska (8-1), 6IP, 1R, 1ER, 9H, 0BB, 8K.
LOSS: Drew Lejeune (5-3), 6.2IP, 2R, 2ER, 5H, 2BB, 5K.
WP: None. IBB: None. Pitches-strikes: Sauska 111-77; Collier Villere 12-8; Lejeune 116-74; Maddox Andrepoint 6-3. Weather at first pitch: 69, clear. Time of game: 2:07.