Lafayette season ends with 10-0 loss to Benton in district semifinals
ST. JOSEPH, Mo.- Lafayette High School's final baseball season has concluded with a 10-0 loss to Benton in the Class 4 District 16 semifinals.
In a valiant effort, the Fighting Irish did all they could to keep pace with the Cardinals, putting runners on bases five times, but none made it past third base.
Benton scored in all but one inning, with senior Cy Polley's hit in the bottom of the fifth sealing the win. Since the Cardinals had scored 10 runs within the first five innings, the game concluded because of MSHSAA's mercy rule.
In addition to Polley, freshman Carson Coy came up big in the victory with three runs, one hit and two RBIs.
After the game, Benton coach Johnny Coy spoke about the significance of the rivalry with Lafayette as both a coach and a St. Joseph native.
"It's a good win, but at the same time, I'm born and raised in St. Joe on the South Side and the last 15 years I've had a lot of friends on the North Side," Johnny Coy said. They're a rich history and it's really sad for me to see it end, even though I am a Southsider. I don't like it, I'm sad over it."
Coy spoke about the impact of the rivalry being felt in every sport in which the two schools have faced off against one another.
"(Being) crosstown rivals is awesome, man," Johnny Coy said. "We're always in the same class. We always meet up in districts, it seems like. Basketball, football, baseball, whatever sport it's always fun. It's just bragging rights and I'm sad to see it go. Those kids over there are hurting. I know a lot of them it's not fun for me either. Just I want everybody to know that's not fun to me either."
In talking to his team afterwards, Lafayette coach Matt Jansen emphasized the the bonds and relationships built as what they'll take away this season.
"You take away the guys," Jansen said. "We're done and see they're still over there. You take away the bonds, the friendships and the camaraderie. We've done so much for each other, they've done so much for me and they've done so much for our community. That's hopefully the legacy that we can leave here. We've really invested in each other and we play the game of baseball the right way. I know they've had a lot of fun and so have I. It's been a really fun group to be a part of. We're Irish baseball forever."
Jansen said his team displayed resilience and perseverance in a year filled with uncertainties in regard to the school's long-term future.
"It's been hard, we've said it a couple different times, ‘Hey there's a chance that this could be it,'" Jansen said. "Obviously now is when it sinks in, but this group's resilient. Even between the lines, we've (come) back down eight runs, down 10 runs, pulled games out and beat teams that we probably shouldn't (have) on paper. This group played until until we got put out. They were not going to give in and again that's something that we've preached to them and that they've embodied."
While the season didn't end how the team wanted, Jansen is confident the connections made will continue to last beyond this year.
"This is a really close group, these guys are gonna be best friends for a long, long time," Jansen said. "We're hoping that we can again come back in five or 10 years and recap all this, kind of act like we never left. This group's got a lot of resilience, bowed their neck quite a bit, a bunch throughout the year. They stayed in the now and the present of this year. As much and as easy as it is to look around and look into next year, they rose to the occasion of us saying ‘Stay in the present this year.' ‘Worry about 2026 with the Irish.' ‘Let's finish this thing with pride.' And I know those guys and myself feel like we've done that."
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