Chalmette baseball team wins playoff series vs. Slidell

Chalmette baseball is alive and kicking, with 30 wins to boot.

With the past two victories coming with their backs against the wall, the sometimes under-appreciated Owls have advanced to the regional round of the DivisionI state playoffs for the first time in eight years in what Coach Mike Thomas revealed Saturday will be his final season before retiring from the St. Bernard Parish school system.

Right-hander Joe Monaghan and left-handed reliever Cooper McNamara handled the pitching, combining on a five-hitter while  Cameron Tipton, Jaden Williams and Malik Jupiter each had an RBI to pace the District 8-5A champions to a 3-2 victory against Slidell at Noel Suarez Stadium to win the teams’ Division I nonselect best-of-3 bidistrict playoffs series 2-1.

Chalmette (30-6) advances as a No. 15 seed to play at No. 2 West Monroe next week in the regional round. The last time the Owls advanced that far was 2016 when they were directed by current pitching coach Kenny Bonura.

To get there, Chalmette had to defeat Slidell twice after dropping the Thursday opener, 1-0. The Owls responded with a 6-1 victory Friday night to set up Saturday’s drama.

“I’m getting emotional because this is my last year,’’ Thomas said. “(Winning) couldn’t happen to a better group. They worked their (butts) off since August and the first day of school. I could not go out with a better group of guys, and that includes the coaches, players and parents.

“This means a lot for Chalmette High School baseball,’’ Thomas added. “We were packed (attendance-wise) for all three games. Every game we play the stands are packed.”

A No. 18 seed, Slidell (21-12) completed its first season under coach Kyle Cedotal by pushing Chalmette to the limit and holding the Owls scoreless in their final three at-bats behind Junior Burdett’s scoreless relief pitching.

Chalmette jumped out to a 3-0 lead against starter Trey Green (2-2) by scoring two runs in the second and another in the third. Jupiter had a one-out, RBI-single and Williams hit a two-out, run-scoring double to drive in the first two runs in the second before  Latrell Grant singled and Tipton doubled to lead off the third to account for the 3-0 advantage.

Slidell answered with two runs in the top of the fourth to narrow Chalmette’s lead to 3-2. Green drove in Eli Strahan from third with an infield single to shortstop that Chalmette’s infield attempted to turn into a fielder’s choice. Finn Gayle doubled and scored the second run from third via a delayed steal in which the Owls picked off Green attempting to steal second.

“This feels great,’’ said Tipton, who drove in the winning run with his RBI-double in the third good for a 3-0 lead. “We did it as a team. We were pushing everybody on the team. We lost the first game, but we had faith. We knew we were going to win the next two games. We had faith in ourselves.’’

McNamara (8-1) shut the door with 3 ⅔ innings of two-hit, scoreless relief. The left-hander coolly worked out of scoring jams in the fourth and fifth innings while retiring nine of the final 10 batters he faced.

“I thought Joe-Joe (Monaghan) came out the first three innings and he was cruising,’’ Thomas said. “But he’s also our best base-runner and it was hot out there. So he tired and it affected his pitching. I can’t say enough about McNamara. (The players) call (how he pitches), “Doing the McNamara.’ Where you do you. (Opponent) can’t hit him. We’re 8-1 with him on the mound.’’

“I knew I had a different style of pitching, not as hard (throwing),’’ McNamara said. “I just try to execute my style of pitching in order to be effective. I knew I had in me what was needed to be done. If I was calm, it would help everybody else remain calm.’’

Chalmette forced the decisive third game after Tipton had three hits and three RBIs while pitching a two-hitter with four strikeouts, one walk and one earned run in the sixth in the 6-1 win in game two. Catcher Evan Jacob had two hits and two RBIs.

As for his retirement decision, which comes after directing Chalmette to seven consecutive district championships in as many seasons as coach, Thomas said, “I’ve got 34 years in (as a teacher). “I’m 58 years old and for 51 years, I’ve coached baseball or played baseball. Now, I’m just going to travel around and watch baseball. It’s just time, 34 years. I just feel it’s time for me to step down.’’

CHALMETTE 3, SLIDELL 2

Slidell 000 200 0 — 2  5  1

Chalmette 021 000 x — 3  8  1

W — Cooper McNamar (8-1). LP: Troy Green (2-2).

Top hitters – Slidell: Troy Green 1-3, RBI; Finn Gayle 1-2, 2B, R; Austin Buell 1-4, 2B. Chalmette: Cameron Tipton 2-3, RBI, 2B; Malik Jupiter 2-3, RBI; Jaden Williams 1-2, RBI, 2B; Latrell Grant 1-3, R; Joe Monaghan 1-3, 2B, R.

Team records: Slidell, 21-13; Chalmette 30-6. Chalmette wins the best-of-3 series, 2-1, to advance to play at No. 2 West Monroe.