Three former Eunice High Bobcats are now national champions as LSU Eunice captured its fourth NJCAA Division II national title with a 7-3 win over Western Oklahoma State College.

Sophomore catcher Stuart Turner was named the tournament’s MVP, while freshmen pitcher Zac Person and catcher Trent Vidrine watched from the dugout.

“We fought to the end,” Turner said of the team’s attitude all season. “No matter the deficit we had, we always came back and fought.

“It showed this week when we lost the first game in a heartbreaker,” he said. “We were down in the eighth inning in the second game and made a rally and came back to win.

“After that we clicked on all cylinders and went on to win the championship.”

It was Turner’s two-run home run that lifted the Bengals to a 3-2 win over Scottsdale and kept LSUE’s season alive to continue their trek to the title.

For the season, Turner hit .332 (62-of-187) with seven home runs, 16 doubles and 49 RBI. As a catcher, he also stole six bases including three in the series.

While Person didn’t see any action on the mound during the series, he was excited to see his fellow pitchers dominate all week.

“Our bull pen is filled with guys who can get the job done.” Person said. “Everyone was ready, they just didn’t need us much.

“Our starters did unbelievably well,” he said. “It was an awesome week and I am looking forward to next year. Our goal is to do it again next year. We will push as hard as we can to repeat.”

For the season, Person finished with a 7-0 record and a 1.71 ERA with 45 strikeouts, 22 walks, six earned runs and allowed 19 hits over 31.2 innings.

As a bull-pen catcher, Vidrine said the pitchers were the key to the team’s success all season.

“I am very excited to be a part of a championship team,” the red-shirt freshman said. “It is an awesome to work hard all year and get to celebrate this.”