Jesuit Evens Series with No. 10 Sunset Behind Offensive Outburst, Big Game from Santiago and Stewart
The Crusaders traveled to Sunset where they evened the series against the number ten-ranked Apollos on Wednesday, the 24th, with a 10-5 victory after their initial loss to Sunset on their home field.
Jesuit came out swinging with leadoff man Kainoa Santiago, who found himself at first after a rocket through the infield. To make things better, he stole second to put Jesuit in scoring position against a good Sunset defense. Carter Stewart then singled to bring Santiago around to give them the early 1-0 lead.
“We wanted to punch first,” Santiago said after the game. “After dropping that first [game], it was personal. We weren’t going to let them come out with more energy than us.”
Sunset, undeterred by a hot Jesuit start, took advantage of a handful of walks and an error to load the bases. Max Waldrip drove in the first run for the Apollos with a single out to right field, but the damage was minimized with a perfect pickoff throw from catcher Ryder Listy to second. Jesuit pitcher Chase Kelly ended the inning with a couple of good pitches to escape the inning with only one run scored against them.
Jesuit continued their aggressive batting into the second inning with another single on the first at-bat from Kyle Goodwin, who then stole second during the next at-bat. Listy advanced Goodwin with a sacrifice bunt in which Henry Vanderhoff brought him home with an RBI single through the infield, giving the Saders the lead again.
Unfortunately, Jesuit’s first-inning defensive struggles continued into the second, and the Apollos took advantage again of the loaded bases, stringing together a handful of hits to tack on two more runs before the end of the inning, making it 2-3 in favor of the Apollos.
The real momentum began in the fourth inning for the Saders after a quiet third inning. Listy smacked a double followed by a pitcher’s balk to move Santiago to first. With two outs, Gonzaga commit Jake Rolling stepped up with a big single to score Listy and keep the inning going. The bold base running continued with a double steal–Rolling taking off for home while Dillion Garg ran for second, both safe in a thrilling sequence.
“I saw the opening and trusted the call—we were playing to win, not just to play it safe,” Rolling said. “That moment flipped the game and ignited everyone in the dugout to the point where we got a warning, but it was worth it.”
To keep things moving, Stewart came through once again, slinging Garg into home to finish off their monstrous fourth inning.
In the sixth, Santiago continued his hot hand with a solo homer to right field to make a statement for this Jesuit Baseball team. Sunset replied with a pitching change to Ryan Gresham, who was unable to slow Jesuit’s offense. Garg fired off a single of his home and scored when Stewart hit another RBI to give the Crusaders a comfortable lead of 8-3.
“This team has heart,” Stewart said. “We don’t back down, and when we get going, we’re tough to stop.”
Jesuit gave Kelly a break, and Colby Lipp stepped up to the mound for the Saders and made his impact immediately with two quick outs and a no-run inning despite a well-laced single from Marcus Pollard.
In the last inning, senior Grady Keljo made his mark on the game by hitting a deep double and was then advanced to third by a perfect bunt by Lipp, who also found himself safe at first. Kevin Hval lifted a sac fly to center field to bring Keljo home, and scored another run with the continuation of audacious steals and aggressive hits.
Sunset didn’t go away easily, though, with Koen Hall and Waldrip both tacking on hits before Dakota Chun knocked a double in to bring in a run. The Apollos had scored another run before loading the bases up, creating a tense last out. Jesuit’s defense held firm and closed the game.
With the win, Jesuit moves to 8–5 on the season and shows they can go toe-to-toe with some of the top-ranked teams in the state. Their balanced mix of contact hitting, speed, and aggressive play kept Sunset off rhythm and gave the Crusaders the edge heading into the final game of the series.
