For the second consecutive year, Bishop Verot’s baseball season ended one win short of the state championship game.
The Vikings, who entered Monday’s Class 3A state semifinal with a 32-2 record and the No. 2 seed, fell to No. 3 Miami Springs, 12-2, in a six-inning run-rule loss at Hammond Stadium.
Bishop Verot struggled on the mound from the start, using five pitchers and allowing the Golden Hawks to break the game open with a seven-run fifth inning.
“That’s not who we’ve been for 34 games,” head coach Casey Scott said. “Our pitchers, all of them, usually do a really good job of locating and allowing our defense to work. Today just was not their day.”
Miami Springs took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, scoring twice on a hit-by-pitch and a bases-loaded walk. The Hawks piled on in the fifth and added a three-run homer in the sixth to seal the victory and clinch a spot in the state final.
The Vikings’ only major highlight came in the bottom of the fifth, when junior Joey Lawson hit a two-run home run to left field.
“Certainly uncharacteristic of who we are as a team for sure,” Scott said. “But again, I’m super proud of these guys over the course of a very long season, just what they were able to accomplish.”
Bishop Verot ends the season at 32-3.
“Nothing we did here today changes how I feel about this team. Tremendously proud of them,” Scott said. “Everybody sees the beginning and everybody sees the end. But nobody really sees what goes on between that and what these guys have to sacrifice and give up and invest to be a part of our program. I just think we ran into a really good baseball team today, and that's OK.
Miami Springs advances to the Class 3A state championship game and improves to 27-3.
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