By Tyler Nunez / American Press

SULPHUR — Teurlings Catholic won its second consecutive state championship, beating St. Louis 11-4 for the Division II title Saturday at McMurry Park.

The Rebels (27-10) ran away from the Saints (23-15) with a seven-run sixth inning.

“Those guys right there never stop swinging,” St. Louis head coach John Collins said of the Teurlings lineup. “Tip your hat to them. Our guys gave it everything they had from start to finish as they have all year. That’s a good ballclub.”

The Saints struck in the first inning when Mark Johnston hit a three-run home run off Teurlings pitcher Hayden Cantrelle.

Johnston said he knew it was going over the left-field wall as soon as it left his bat.

“Cantrelle is a great pitcher, and he’s got a great arm,” Johnston said. “I was lucky enough to get a good swing on it and put it over the fence.”

Teurlings responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Saints extended their lead back to two runs in the third inning after Cameron Fontenot hit a triple and Logan Gray scored him with a blooper into shallow center field.

Once again the Rebels responded with a run in their half of the inning before Cantrelle helped his cause with a home run in the fourth inning that tied the score at 4.

Cantrelle remained solid on the mound for the remainder of the game, and held the Saints scoreless until the final out as Teurlings had 11 batters step to the plate in the sixth inning in the seven-run rout.

“Not for one second did we think we were out of the game, even after we gave up the seven runs,” Collins said.

The Saints made contact with the ball in the seventh inning, but a double play and a ground out ended their season as the Rebels clinched their seventh state championship.

Cantrelle earned the game’s Most Outstanding Player award after earning the complete-game victory on the mound and going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.

Despite the loss Collins said he was proud of his team.

“We fell short of our goal, but those guys have done a great job day in and day out for as long as I’ve been here,” Collins said. “That’s all I ever asked of them, and it’s all I will ever ask of them.”