On Life Support, Retif Oilers Rally in 9th Inning to Stay Unbeaten in American Legion State Tournament

Posted July 21, 2015 / Last updated July 21, 2015

Oilers Play River Ridge Patriots Tuesday Evening at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium; First Pitch is 7 PM

Ben Hess is all smiles in the dugout after coming up with a timely big hit to help the Oilers beat Gauthier-Amedee.

Down 4-2 after eight innings and showing very little signs of life, the Retif Oilers were ready to be wheeled on a gurney into the autopsy room. The Oilers had three outs left and were batting in the top of the ninth inning against Gauthier-Amedee in Monday night’s feature game at the American Legion State Tournament at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. Retif’s dugout was quiet; Gauthier-Amedee’s, on the other hand, was noisy, the players raucously whooping it up.

Oop-oop-a-doop, a little too soon to start the celebration. Fifteen minutes later, the balance transfer was completed. All the noise eminated from the Oilers’ dugout. The Gauthier-Amedee dugout was as silent as a fat lady’s wake. In that span of a few minutes, the Oilers were resuscitated and rejuvenated, scoring four runs to take a 6-4 lead that held up for the final score. The win automatically sends Retif to the championship game which is scheduled to be played Wednesday.

Todd Crabtree relieved Davis Martin in the bottom of the fourth inning. He pitched six shutout innings, allowing three hits while striking out nine batters. Crabtree picks up the win to improve his record to 5-0.

Meanwhile, the Oilers control their own fate and play the River Ridge Patriots (John Curtis) Tuesday at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium at 7 p.m. A win by the Oilers means Retif will play one game for the state championship on Wednesday. A loss to the Patriots means Retif will have to play two games on Wednesday to decide the state championship.

The Legion’s Louisiana champion moves on to the American Legion Mid-South Regional Tournament to play the winners from seven nearby states. That tournament will be held in Arkansas next week.

Against Gauthier-Amedee, the Oilers pretty much played patty-cake for eight innings. Davis Martin started on the mound for the Oilers, tossed three innings, giving up three hits and four runs (three were earned). He was relieved in the bottom of the fourth by Todd Crabtree, who threw six innings of shutout baseball, allowing three hits while striking out nine batters. Crabtree got the win to stay undefeated on the mound, 5-0.

When the Oilers’ bats started knocking the ball in that last inning, the hitters were shortstop Alex Galy, Nick Ray (DH), second baseman Brandon Briuglio, rightfielder Ben Hess, and catcher Trent Forshag.

Galy had a single; Ray hit an RBI single; Forshag had a single and an RBI-sacrifice fly; Hess had a single, a sacrifice fly, and a triple, along with three RBIs.

“I’m really proud of the way you guys came back,” Retif Coach Joey Latino told the team afterwards. “You showed a lot of guts, a lot of class out there.”

N.O. Advocate: American Legion state tournament: Retif Oil rallies past Gauthier & Amedee in the ninth inning to prevail 6-4