Behind ace sophomore pitcher, resilient St. Martin swept Oak Grove in the first round
Kary Bridges doesn’t want to hear about Oak Grove losing.
The sixth-year St. Martin head coach watched his Yellow Jackets battle back from a 3-1 deficit and complete a two-game sweep over his alma mater Oak Grove in the first round of the 6A baseball playoffs on Saturday. St. Martin scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead and never relinquished it, winning 5-3.
“We went over there Friday and we beat them, we played better baseball,” Bridges said after Saturday’s win. “And all I read about in the paper this morning from up there was, ‘(Oak Grove) lost the game.’ You know what? The better baseball team won. That’s my opening statement, the better baseball team won.
“We beat them, they didn’t lose. We beat them. I’m sick of people talking about Oak Grove and losing and all that stuff. We beat them. I’m really excited for our guys.”
At center stage of St. Martin’s series clincher was starting pitcher Tyler West. The sophomore struggled early while the Warriors scored three runs off three hits, including a solo home run, through the first three innings.
Once his team gave him the lead ahead of the fourth inning, West settled in. He pitched four scoreless innings to finish the game and struck out four batters across the final 12 outs.
“He’s been one of our better guys all year and he’s done that a lot,” Bridges said. “He didn’t have the outing that he necessarily wanted last time out in a big game against D’Iberville but he kept himself in it (tonight) and never gave in and that’s what I love.”
West’s emergence in the rotation has been a major story for the 2022 Yellow Jackets. He’s made eight regular-season starts in his debut season, compiling a 2.08 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 43.2 innings.
The timing couldn’t have been better following the graduation of St. Martin’s top pitcher from a year ago.
“I’ve told him once or twice, if he wasn’t wearing a St. Martin uniform we wouldn’t be where we are right now,” Bridges said. “He’s just done a wonderful job.”
West embodies the gutsy persona of the St. Martin dugout, fighting through innings and staying confident in high leverage situations.
“Our team, we’re just dogs,” West said. “We just get it done when we need to get it done. We make big plays when we need them. It’s a hell of a team, we’re really scrappy.”
West is joined at the top of the staff by junior Parker Dobson, who is leading the team with a 1.80 ERA in just over 40 innings of work.
Dobson shut down Oak Grove in the first meeting between the clubs, with seven strikeouts and only three hits allowed to set up West for the series-closing role.
The team has a new challenge ahead in the second round — St. Martin will face Region 6 champion and reigning South State champion Northwest Rankin in a series beginning Friday.
The Yellow Jackets will bring their defensively focused style of play against their powerhouse opponent, just as they would against anybody else.
“We build this program on pitching and defense and being able to put together some things on the bases,” Bridges said. “That’s what we do and they buy in.”
St. Martin is now 19-11 on the year, the second-most wins of the Bridges era.
