Berwick tops Iota for 1st baseball title in 40 years

When Berwick High School’s Kyle Boudreaux stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth inning with Berwick already ahead 5-1 in the Class 3A finals against Iota, he remembered how his coach had preached to the team just before the inning how it was time to break open its contest with Iota.
The Panthers, who led 3-1 entering the inning, already had scored two runs in the frame and had runners at second base and third base with two outs in the top the sixth.
Boudreaux looked at the scoreboard and saw it was the prime opportunity to finish the job, and he put an exclamation point on Berwick’s championship season, driving in two runs en route to an eventual 7-2 Berwick victory.
It was the Panthers’ first state baseball title since 1978. They had been to the state title game three times since, most recently in 1994, but came up empty.
Boudreaux said the Panthers’ motivation to win the title involved winning one for assistant coach Lud Henry, who was a senior on the 1978 squad and for winning one for the Town of Berwick.
“It’s something we talked about, and we finally made our dreams turn into a reality,” said Boudreaux, who finished the day 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run.
Berwick junior pitcher Mitchell Sanford was named the Allstate Sugar Bowl Class 3A Most Outstanding Player following the game.
Sanford pitched a complete game to earn the win and finished 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
On the mound, he allowed two earned runs on four hits with two walks, one hit batter and fanned four.
“It’s surreal, man,” Sanford said. “I can’t even explain it. I’m lost for words. We worked so hard for this, and just to be able to come out on top is just breathtaking. I don’t know what to say.”
Iota took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Hunter Wriborg singled to centerfield to bring home a run.
While Berwick has been known for responding when other teams score against them, the Panthers had trouble early in the title game as it left a combined five runners on base, including two in scoring position, in the first three innings.
Berwick’s first serious scoring opportunity was thwarted when Boudreaux was thrown out at the plate following a single by Reid Wiley. Iota leftfielder Andrew Ashby fielded the ball and made a great throw to catcher Mitchell Lege, who applied the tag.
“It took a little while for us to kind of get our nerves down a little bit, but once we settled in, I felt pretty good,” first-year Berwick coach Brandon Bravata said.
Berwick got on the board in the fourth inning when Wiley’s single ricocheted off the glove of Iota’s third baseman allowing Patrick Robertson to score. Robertson had started the inning with a single.
Sanford followed in the next at bat with a two-RBI double down the left field line for a 3-1 Berwick advantage.
The score remained the same until the sixth inning when the Panthers’ Lucas Hatch drove home Hunter Landry for a 4-1 Berwick lead, prompting Iota coach Leonard Cloud to replace starter Brett Spell with reliever Tristen Miller.
After Miller walked Zeph Hoffpauir and hit Kyle Pitre to load the bases, Robertson grounded out to second base to bring in a run.
Boudreaux then drove in the game’s final two runs with his double to left field.
Cloud said big innings have been the team’s downfall in their few losses this year.
“We have broken down one inning, kind of let our guard down, and I tip my hat to them,” Cloud said of Berwick. “They took advantage of our miscues and mistakes.”
Iota scored one run in the bottom of the seventh on Wriborg’s solo home run over the left field wall, but Sanford retired the game’s next three batters, including a fly ball to the outfield caught by centerfielder Denver Jenkins to end the game.
Berwick outhit Iota, 9-4.
“They had a great ball club,” Cloud said of Berwick. “They were solid 1-9. We heard they were, but they just crushed the baseball. On offense, they have a great offense. They play just as good defense, and (Sanford), that kid right there’s a great ball player.”
In addition to Boudreaux, other top Berwick hitters were Wiley, 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run; Robertson, 1-for-4, an RBI, a stolen base and a run; and Hatch, 1-for-3, an RBI.
Wriborg led Iota with a 2-for-3 performance with two RBIs and a run, while Deven Mouton was 1-for-2 with a double and a run.
Spell suffered the loss. In 5.1 innings, he allowed five runs (five earned) on eight hits with six walks, one hit batter and five strikeouts.
With the end of Berwick’s season comes the conclusion of the high school careers of the team’s six seniors: Boudreaux, Kyle Pitre, Denver Jenkins, Wiley, Robertson and Hatch.
Bravata said the group has brought him to tears multiple times.
“I’m going to miss the heck out of them, but there’s no tears of sadness today,” Bravata said after the game. “There’s only tears of joy.”