Catholic League Showdown: Brother Martin-Holy Cross battle to advance to Division I select state title game

by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

Holy Cross first-year baseball coach Kal Bonura said his team’s smaller goals mushroomed into far greater aspirations.

The Tigers were 12-18 and swept in a Division I select first-round series against Byrd a year ago, setting the stage for change with the arrival of Bonura, a former University of New Orleans player and 2008 graduate of Holy Cross.

“The original goal was to flip the record from last year which was 12-18 and a first-round bye and we accomplished that,” Bonura said.

No. 2 Holy Cross (31-4) will appear in its first state semifinal in seven years, hosting Catholic League foe No. 3 Brother Martin (29-5) when their best-of-three state semifinal series begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at Tiger Park. The series continues at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and if necessary, at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The winner of the series meets the winner of the Catholic High of Baton Rouge-St. Thomas More series in next week’s Division I state championship best-of-three series in Sulphur.

“I think we’re both excited to play,” Brother Martin baseball coach Jeff Lupo said. “It’s a district rivalry. We played really well against them the first time (7-1, 5-0 district sweep), but we know we’re going to have to be at our best to have a chance this weekend.”

The two schools, which are separated by a four-mile stretch in New Orleans, enter the do-or-die series riding hot streaks.

Brother Martin, the District 9-5A champion, has won its last 12 games and 26 of its last 27 games including last week’s quarterfinal sweep over Ponchatoula. Senior pitcher Cole Navarro became the school’s all-time wins leader at 25 in the opening game of the series and this marks the Crusaders’ second semifinal in three years.

Brother Martin last won a state championship in 1996 with a 1-0 victory over West Monroe.

“We’ve got a veteran ball club and for the last few weeks, they’ve been very consistent in their approach,” Lupo said. “They’ve been very business-like and professional in how they’ve attacked things. We’ve pitched it pretty well all season and we’re playing good defense. 

“We’re not manufacturing innings for our opponents and we’re capitalizing on the situations that are presented offensively,” Lupo said. “The guys have all bought in and are willing to play the short game when necessary. We’ve been pretty balanced up and down the lineup. We feel we have depth up and down the lineup where we’re able to manufacture runs and apply consistent pressure.”

Holy Cross’ resurgence under Bonura already consists of a school record for victories in a season. The Tigers won their first 17 games until a 7-1 loss to Brother Martin, stumbling with four losses in their next seven games, before closing out the regular season with seven consecutive wins. 

Moreover, after an opening-round bye, Holy Cross swept St. Paul’s and Acadiana in the regional and quarterfinal rounds, respectively, to reach their first semifinal since 2018. The Tigers were last in a state final in against Teurlings Catholic in 2012, losing the Class 4A state title game, 11-1, and also dropped a 10-7 decision to Archbishop Rummel in the Class 4A final in 1987.

“The kids show up every day ready to play,” Bonura, the head coach at Chalmette the previous three seasons. “I haven’t had to worry about that all year. They’re confident. They don’t think we can lose and that’s half the battle.”
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Bonura, a former UNO player, also was the head coach at Hammond for a year, and Chalmette which opened the season with Holy Cross each season since 2022.

“From playing against them the last years, you could always tell they were talented,” Bonura said. “It almost felt like it was kind of a sleeping giant having their own field on campus (the only school in the Catholic League). There’s a lot of built-in reasons this place can be successful in baseball. When they called, it was like let’s give this thing a chance and see what we can do with this.”

Bonura’s tenure with the Tigers began last summer and instead of running into a rebuilding project following a losing season, he was pleasantly surprised by the prospects of a team that won their first three games. 

“We realized we were pretty talented,” he said. “If we could get the mindset right and had everyone to buy in which they have, obviously we could have a pretty good year. I don’t think anybody imagined we would be 31-4 at this point. We figured we could have a good year and make a run if we got into the playoffs. To win 30 games and break the school record for wins, and still have four games out there, has been an incredible season.”

Junior Tulane commitment Dom Pellegrin was one of the team’s offensive catalysts over the first 15 games of the season with senior William Andrade, a Nunez Community College signee, taking designs on the role as the team’s ace.

The Tigers developed a balanced approach over the course of the season, a team that’s batting .317 with 60 doubles, 16 homers, and an astounding 138 stolen bases.

“One through nine understands their role,” Bonura said. “We’ve had time for everyone to find their roles and get comfortable. We like to get on base and steal a lot of bases. It’s always nice to jump ahead and that’s what we try to do every game. More times than not, we’ve been the team that scores first.”

Pellegrin’s .465 average is the team’s best with 16 doubles, 6 homers, 37 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases. Senior Chris Sercovich has been a two-way standout with a .385 average and 26 RBIs at the plate. He’s also got a 5-0 record and 27 strikeouts in 31.1 innings on the mound.

Andrade has a .329 average with a homer, three doubles, and 16 stolen bases. Where he’s truly shined, though, has been on the mound with a 14-1 record, 1.62 ERA, 110 strikeouts in 82 innings.

Senior catcher Kolton Gerrets is another key member of the team’s offense (.329, 28 RBIs) with senior Ryder Planchard, an LSU Eunice signee, (7 doubles, 16 RBIs, 7 stolen bases), and senior Hayden Derbes (1 homer, 10 RBIs, 7 stolen bases), a Spring Hill signee providing significant contributions.

“It’s a good blend,” Bonura said. “We’re a pretty athletic team. We work on base running every day and that started in the fall. At this point, they’ve executed it very well. It’s hard to shut us down from stealing unless you’ve got an elite catcher which Brother Martin has. We’re going to stay true to our game and stick to our style.”

There’s more to Holy Cross’ pitching, which has a 1.664 ERA, than just Andrade. Senior Matthew Watson (9-3, 2.29 ERA, 61 innings) is the team’s No. 2 starter, while Sercovich is another capable starter. 

“Our pitching’s been tremendous all year,” Bonura said. “We want to pitch basically the same way we play offense. Be aggressive, throw a lot of strikes, and make them hit us. We’ve got a great defense, especially up the middle (with Pellegrin, Planchard, and Sercovich). We feel confident we can throw strikes, not give people free bases, and that we’re going to make the plays in the field. Make them earn everything they get.”
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Brother Martin returned the bulk of its starters (seven) from a team that was eliminated by John Curtis in last year’s quarterfinal series, 2-1.

“Several of them had started for three to four years,” Lupo said. “Not only was it a veteran club, but an experienced club. Losing in the quarterfinal round left somewhat of a sour taste in their mouths. We started forming this mentality of what we could become last summer. We had a lot of success in the way we attacked the summer program. That’s carried over in what they saw they could accomplish and kind of raised the level of expectations for themselves.”

The Crusaders feature two-time Class 5A first-team All-State selection Ryan Darrah, an Arizona State signee. Seniors Stan Wiltz and Cole Navarro are both UNO signees who have been staples of this year’s success.

Lupo said his team’s .322 batting average features eight of nine starters batting .319 or above with Navarro, a .290 hitter, leading the teams in RBIs with 33 and has been solid at third base when he’s not pitching. 

Wiltz leads the team with a .443 average followed by Cody Kropp at .397 and Darrah at .382 with a .555 slugging percentage. The Crusaders have also counted on Christian Michel (.375), Brody Shannon (.339), and Reece Roussel (.326). and Brady McCluskey (.319, 27 RBIs).
“It seems like it’s been a different guy every time,” Lupo said.

Navarro is the leader of a talented pitching staff with a 10-1 record, 1.92 ERA, 58 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 69 innings. The Crusaders also have a terrific brother tandem in junior right-hander Blaise Tingstrom (5-0, 0.89 ERA) and senior left-hander Jude Tingstrom (7-0, 2.79 ERA).

“We feel confident that we have options,” Lupo said. “We feel we have a 1A, 1B and 1C.”

Brother Martin caught fire on March 1 following a 7-5 start to the season. The Crusaders won their next 10 games, overcame a 2-1 loss to John Curtis, and put together their current win streak that included the 7-5A title with a 12-1 record – featuring a sweep of Holy Cross on March 18-20.

Holy Cross dropped three of seven league games before finishing runner-up Brother Martin, reeling off its last seven regular-season games after an 8-6 setback to St. Augustine on April 1.

“They’re the team that ended our 17-game win streak,” Bonura said of Brother Martin. “They swept us in district, but since then we’ve played them, we’ve got two losses, and they’ve lost once. Both teams are hot. We’re both used to winning at this time of year. Both teams have a lot of momentum, have a lot of confidence, and are very familiar with each other. It should be a fun weekend.”