Slidell baseball looks to keep upset streak alive against No. 11 Sam Houston

SLIDELL – After a 4-6 start, head coach Cameron Lewis knew his team was turning a corner after a close loss to Catholic.

“We were playing with guys out of position, injured guys, and lost 3-0 to a really good ball club and played a good game,” Lewis said. “After that, we knew we were good and that’s when they started to believe more.”

Since then, Slidell is 23-3 and the No. 19 seed in the Division I Non-Select playoff field. The Tigers upset No. 14 Zachary and No. 3 Northwood in the first two rounds of the postseason.

“We haven’t flinched when bad things have happened, haven’t hit the panic button, just kept playing ball. That’s been a blessing,” Lewis said.

A big reason the Tigers have surged has been senior right-handed pitcher Troy Green. The LSU Eunice commit is 10-3 this year with a 1.06 ERA. He has 134 strikeouts in just 78 innings of work.

“I think with my velocity being harder, my slider works a lot,” Green said. “People sit on my fastball and then my slider catches them off guard.”

During this stretch, the Tigers have been covered at the plate. Catcher Brayden Calamari has come up clutch countless times. He’s posted a .413 batting average with six home runs and 41 RBIs this season.

“He has come up big in so many situations. Call it luck, the way the lineup is written, how guys ahead of him in the lineup are doing, whatever. He works so dang hard at his craft and it’s enjoyable to see a guy who puts in the work get rewarded with how he does it,” Lewis said.

If Slidell wants to keep its season alive, the Tigers will have to pull off a third consecutive upset against No. 11 Sam Houston. Lewis is confident his guys will come through again.

“This is a good group, fun to be a part of and they play for each other,” Lewis said. “It’s fun when things go right and even when things go wrong, the culture is built around being a good teammate. They are doing that. That’s why I believe it can keep going.”

Game 1 of the Tigers’ series against Sam Houston is set for Friday at 6 p.m.

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