The Cathedral Crusaders completed a thrilling 7th inning rally to defeat Fairmont 5-4 at Target Field and win the Class 2A State Tournament. Cathedral was down 4-1 in the 7th inning and was able to rally to both tie and take the lead against Fairmont to complete the improbably comeback. The Crusaders finish the season at 27-1. Fairmont falls to 25-2.

The Crusaders fell behind in the first inning as Fairmont was able to plate 2 runs against Cathedral pitcher Jeff Fasching. Fairmont added another run in the bottom of the 4th inning on an RBI single by Jack Waletich. That single was followed up by a sacrifice fly to give Fairmont the early 4-0 lead. Cathedral wasn't able to muster any offense until the top of the 6th inning, when Steven Neutzling doubled, stole third and scored on an error by the third baseman. After 6 innings, Fairmont held a 4-1 lead.

In the 7th, the Crusaders quickly recorded the first 2 outs of the inning, but were able to get runners on for Steven Neutzling, who doubled to tie the game at 4.Jeff Fasching grounded out to shortstop, but the first baseman couldn't field the throw cleanly allowing Neutzling to score the go ahead run. Fairmont mounted a mild threat but they weren't able to tie the score again and came up short.

Congratulations to the Crusaders on their State Championship and a very successful season!

 

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