J. EDMUND BARNES

PHOTO: T.J. Bourgeois pitches while short stop Courtney Hines readies himself to field any ball hit nearby. (Staff photo by J. Edmund Barnes) LUTCHER – American Legion baseball is about learning lessons that can be applied to the spring season. It is about giving freshmen and sophomores, who have only played at the junior varsity level, time at the plate and in the field with the veterans of the team. And it is about having fun. But when the team is losing no one is having fun, so the players have to concentrate on the first two goals. These truths were very evident Monday at Lutcher. The Lutcher High School-based Golden Grove Truck Stop team lost to Archbishop Hannan High School-based Allstate Insurance squad 7-4. Golden Grove has been in a slump recently, losing to the Riverside Extra Inning Club and X. The team has also been plagued by injuries, with right fielder Tyler Teague and Jordie Perilloux suffering from sprained legs and shortstop Courtney Hines playing with a bruised shoulder. Teague’s injuries, though initially thought to be a hairline fracture, did not stop him from hitting a home run Saturday against Riverside. Hannan was also coming off a loss Saturday to St. Charles Catholic High School-based Cretin Homes, but a stingy defense centered on Justin Garcia’s pitching quickly erased any thoughts of that defeat. Lutcher pitcher T.J. Bourgeois was erratic throughout the four innings that he played – Bourgeois walked the first batter he faced, forced two flyouts, then allowed Kent Guillot to get on base with a single. Guillot was then thrown out on a 2-4-3 play that saw the ball get touched by catcher Chris Guidry, second baseman Jeremy Roper, and first baseman Ryan St. Germain. The bleeding started in the second inning, when Daryl Richard hit a single past Hines, and then was sent home by a double by right fielder Ryan Starr. Starr was sent home on an RBI single by catcher Pat Vigueira. The third inning saw Hannan drive home three runs. Bourgeois walked Jason Schwab and then allowed Tommy Manzella to hit a single. Kent Guillot got his first RBI of the day on a single that sent home Schwab. Two batters later, Guillot and Manzella were driven home by a double by third baseman Matt Arcement. Guillot got two more RBIs in the fourth inning, driving home Manzella and Schwab with a triple into right field. Bourgeois was replaced at the top of the fifth inning by Ryan St. Germain, who finished the game by allowing no hits and no walks while striking out three and hitting one batter. The Summer Bulldogs managed to get on the score board in the fifth inning. Second baseman Jeremy Roper advanced to third on a pair of errors by Hannan, then scored on a single by St. Germain. St. Germain, Hines, and Perilloux were driven home by a triple by Guidry. But that was as close as Lutcher got. Garcia showed remarkable control throughout the game, striking out the side in the sixth inning. The Bulldogs never got a grasp on his curveball, a pitch that seemed to bend outside the batter’s box before breaking in to nick the outside corner of the strike zone. Garcia ended the day with seven hits and eight strikeouts, while allowing only four runs. Notable hitters included Guillot of Hannan, who went 3-4 with three RBIs and a triple, and Guidry of Lutcher who went 2-3 with a triple. “We’re fighting for our lives right now,” said Lutcher coach Scott Tribble. “We don’t practice – we don’t to a lot in the summer. I don’t want to burn anyone out. We’re taking our knocks with young kids, but it will make us a better team in January.”