Boerne had quite a journey at the tourney

Boerne Little League or Texas West made history after they were the first team to drop their opening game at the Southwest Region baseball tourney and then go on to win the event.

They were probably also the first to deal with a lawsuit after they were declared the champs as well (See Boerne Little League team story).

Boerne’s journey at the Southwest tourney began with a 10-3 loss to Texas East. That meant Boerne would have to win its next three just to make it to the championship game, but it turned out they only needed two wins to play for the title after Oklahoma was disqualified.

Boerne bounced back to beat Mississippi 10-0 and then faced Texas East in a rematch. In a low-scoring game, Boerne or Texas West took the rematch, 3-2. That put Boerne in a game on Monday against Louisiana, and the winner would play Oklahoma for the title.

But Oklahoma was disqualified for using an ineligible player and that left Monday’s game between Boerne and Louisiana as the championship contest.

Boerne has a fast start against Louisiana and starting pitcher Kase Yarbrough led things off with a triple and set the tone for the rest of the inning.

Walker Yost brought in Yarbrough with an RBI single, Chandler Schramek drove in two more runs and Kasen Martinez picked up an RBI, all in that first frame, and Boerne was up 4-0 before Louisiana could get out of the inning.

Yarbrough left after throwing 62 pitches and was replaced by Merritt Cude who entered in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out. Cude helped record the next two outs with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the shutout intact.

Louisiana loaded the bases again in the fourth frame, but again, Boerne’s defense stepped up and got out of the jam, not allowing a run through four frames.

After another scoreless inning in the fifth, Louisiana finally got on the board during its last bats in the sixth. With runners on first and second, one of their players hit a deep shot to right field that stayed in the park for a double and allowed the runner from second to score.

The runner at first was sent home as well but was tagged out at the plate to make it 4-1 with one out, instead of 4-2 with no outs. From there, Boerne’s defense clamped down and closed it out with the final two outs.

Boerne has a first-round bye at the Little League World Series and begins play on Aug. 21, 3 p.m.