Rush Tompkins went 3- for- 4 with three RBIs and pitched six strong innings as Cardinal Newman defeated Ben Lippen 12- 6 on Saturday, April 25 to advance to the SCISA state baseball playoffs.

Cardinal Newman (10- 13, 5- 6) had just won a thrilling extra- inning affair at Heathwood Hall the previous evening in order to tie Ben Lippen (9- 10, 4- 7) for the fourth and final playoff spot in SCISA Region I- AAA. But the Falcons had beaten the Cardinals 9- 2 on Tuesday, April 21. So the question was, who had the momentum? The teams met at Hammond at noon to find out.

The game started despairingly for the Cardinals. Tommy Winterstein was thrown out at home by Falcon first baseman Eric Williamson after an overthrow, and Mark Greenwood struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

But Cardinal Newman turned a double play in the bottom of the inning, an inning which ended with Williamson needing medical attention for a gash on his chin after colliding with Cardinal first baseman Michael Bolchoz on a groundout.

The Cardinals got the bats going in the second inning off Falcon starter Chad Burnett. Joey DeAngelis hit an RBI double to right field and Winterstein followed with a run- scoring groundout, then DeAngelis scored on a wild pitch to give Cardinal Newman a 3- 0 lead.

The Falcons got an unearned run in the bottom of the second off Tompkins, but the Cardinals scored three more in the third, with DeAngelis and Winterstein each delivering RBI singles.

In the fourth inning, DeAngelis and Winterstein mimicked each other again, this time getting hit by pitches with the bases loaded before Tompkins delivered a two- run single to cap the four- run inning.

Cardinal Newman tacked on two more runs in the sixth on back- to- back doubles by Winterstein and Tompkins, followed by a sacrifice fly by Bolchoz. Ben Lippen tried to come back in the bottom of the frame, scoring four runs before Tompkins finally got the third out. Greenwood came on in the bottom of the seventh to get the last three outs.

Winterstein went 2- for- 4 with three RBIs, DeAngelis finished 3- for- 5 with three RBIs, and Greenwood went 4- for- 5 for the victorious Cardinals.

Ben Lippen, playing without starters Joey Carter, who was attending the Elite 11 football camp, and Miles Fisher, who had defeated the Cardinals on Tuesday, was led by Chad Burnett at 3- for- 4 and Keaton Walker at 2- for- 3 with two RBIs.

Cardinal Newman travelled to Wilson Hall on Monday, April 27 for the first round of the SCISA state playoffs and lost a doubleheader to Wilson Hall, 10- 0 and 8- 1.