North Vermilion's Russell was cool as a cucumber in the state semifinals

SULPHUR - Isaac Russell did not let the idea of pitching in his first-ever semifinal state championship game bother him. He was as cool as a cucumber for seven innings on Wednesday night.
Russell was the winning pitcher in the 6-1 win over Pearl River Rebels in the semifinals.
He faced 30 batters and threw 106 strikes and 30 balls. 
Russell struck out four, allowed five hits, and scored not one earned run.  Before the semifinal game, Russell had an impressive 1.48 earned run average (ERA). That ERA is now 1.31.
He now improves to 6-2 on the year. 
“I think I did well,” said Russell. "I did not get nervous. I came into the game and acted like it was a regular-season game, even though I knew it was an important game. I felt good.”
NV head coach Jeremy Trahan said, “ Isaac had an unbelievable performance. He commanded the zone all night long.”
Russell’s first batter he faced in the game, he threw two consecutive balls and then fired a strike.  That batter grounded out for the first out of the game.
Russell struck out the next batter looking and got the third batter to ground out to end the inning.
He gave up his first hit to the sixth batter he faced, but that batter was left stranded on first base.
The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
“With the 1-0 lead, I knew we would keep going.   I know we are ahead, but I also knew we would score more runs,” Russell said. 
In the third inning, the Patriots exploded for four runs.  Russell started the fourth inning with a 5-0 lead.
The junior pitcher did not change a thing despite having the big lead.
“I stay the same. I know the game could change in a split second,” he added.  “I never felt relaxed until the final out.”
The Patriots went into the top of the seventh inning with a comfortable 6-0 lead.  They were three outs away from advancing to their third state finals in four years.
Pearl River did not make the final three outs easy. An NV error let the leadoff batter get on base for Pearl River. The next batter grounded out to Russell, but a runner advanced to second base. 
The second out occurred when NV shortstop Colt Lejeune  caught a line drive. 
The Patriots were one out away from winning.
Then something happened that had not happened all game. Russell gave up back-to-back singles, allowing a run to score.
The right-hander did not panic. With two runners on base, he threw a fastball that was hit to center field. Center fielder Jansen Deangelo charged the ball and made a diving catch for the third out, ending the game.
“I saw Jansen go for it and realized it looked like he would catch it. When he did, it felt really good,” Russell said.
And Russell was also finally able to relax.