Trinity’s six hits not enough to get by Gatewood in semifinal series

For the third time in four years, the Trinity Crusaders faced off with longtime rival Gatewood in the state playoffs as the teams met in a second-straight AA semifinal last Thursday. 

Unfortunately, Trinity still couldn’t get over the hump as the Gators eliminated them yet again, 5-1 and 8-0, to advance to the state championship series for the sixth consecutive year.

Game 1 started as a pitchers duel between Crusader ace Kolbi Grooms and Gatewood’s Ben Pearson.  

The teams were scoreless until the third, when Trinity got on the board.

Grooms walked to lead off the frame. Following two outs, a walk to Braden Underwood, a hit batter and another walk to Blake Sims put the Crusaders up 1-0.

The lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the inning the Gators got a one-out single from the nine-hole hitter Bryce Lattimore. Leadoff man Ben Brannen, Gatewood’s lone senior, followed with a two-run homer to make the score 2-1.

The Gators would tack on in the fourth as a walk and a singe by Drew Love brought Pearson to the plate. The sophomore would help his own cause with a three-run bomb to put the Gators up 5-1.  

Trinity tried to battle back late in the contest.

The Crusaders got a double from Andrew Helton to lead off the sixth and a pair of one-out walks would load the bases. Unfortunately, the Crusaders couldn’t come through as a flyout and strikeout ended the inning.

Carter Lee led off the seventh with a double and Tayt Evans was hit by a pitch. But again, the Crusaders couldn’t take advantage before a third out ended the game. 

Helton led the offense with a pair of hits. Lee and Jakob Sahli had the only others. 

Grooms worked 5 2/3 innings in his final career start. He allowed six hits and five runs, while walking two and striking out five.

Pearson got the Gatewood win by going the distance and allowing just four hits. He walked six and struck out five.

Game 2 saw the Crusaders fall behind early with the Gators as the visiting team. Two-straight singles to start the contest led to a Jayden Moss sac fly to give Gatewood a 1-0 lead.

That score held until the fourth.  A walk, a single and two more walks made the score 2-0 and chased Asher Evans from the contest. Helton got the first batter out that he faced, but then gave up a two-run double to Lawson Moore to put Gatewood up 4-0.

The Gators went up 5-0 in the fifth with an unearned run, but broke the game open further in the sixth.

Brannen led off the frame with a single. Following an out, Moss, the son of Gatewood coach and former MLB all star Brandon Moss, blasted a two-run homer to put the Gators up 7-0.

Moss would add another RBI single in the seventh to make the final 8-0.

Moore went the distance for the Gators in the two-hit shutout. He walked one and stuck out 12.

Eighth grader Jake Johnson had the Crusaders’ only two hits. 

The losses mark the final high school games for seniors Grooms, Lee, Sahli and Alston Bryan. They end their Trinity careers with 67 wins, two region titles and two semifinal appearances.  

The Crusaders end their season at 17-11.