By ROBERT L. LEE

HAHNVILLE – Although the scoreboard didn’t show them as winners, the Otto Candies Tigers achieved their goals during a practice game with Jesuit-based Retif Oil Thursday. After nine full innings, the Blue Jays maintained their short lead to close the game up 6-4.

The 1 p.m. game at Hahnville allowed both teams to have a competitive practice and give most, if not all of their players some time on the field. The Tigers had not faced another team in almost two weeks and the Blue Jays don’t have a game scheduled until the state tournament on Aug 2. The Tigers earned the week off from legion games and an automatic berth into the regional tournament, which begins today, by finishing the summer season in second place. The Tigers have a noon show down against Hannan-based Capella/All-State Insurance, the team which upset Destrehan-based East St. Charles Post 366/195 last week for a spot in the tournament. During the summer season, the Tigers lost their only match with Hannan 8-5.

“We’ve seen them and they’ve seen us,” said a confident Tigers coach Mark Sims. “You’ve got to beat everybody sometime.”

The Blue Jays won their district and the right to host the state tournament, which automatically handed them a bye week and a seat in the tournament.

Thursday’s sweltering practice game saw the Tigers send seven pitchers to the mound and all of the batters step up to the plate at least four times. The score may not have meant anything to either team, but the 11-4 Tigers stayed on the 25-2 Blue Jays’ heels.

Sims said the extended break led to a low number of hits, but the team will be ready at the plate Saturday.

“We weren’t timely with the sticks, but it’ll be there Saturday,” said Sims.

“We got all seven pitchers in and they’ll be ready to go. We had a good defensive effort. I’m pleased, looking forward to Saturday.”

Sims said the decision to play nine innings instead of the usual seven was an idea to allow more players more playing time. Sims said he wasn’t sure if the state championship game was set for nine innings and this practice would give the teams a feel of playing the extra two.

Retif Oil scored the first run in the first inning after loading the bases with no outs. The next batter hit a pop out, before a walk gave the Blue Jays the one run. The Tigers turned a base hit into a forced out at the plate, then caught another pop out to leave three Blue Jays stranded. The Tigers’ defense continued to leave Blue Jays’ runners on base, while their offense ended the first and second innings by with three batters up and three back down. It was in the third inning when the Tigers’ John Gros broke through with a double, then gave the team a shot of momentum by stealing third base on a loose pitch. An Alex Romero sacrifice hit gave Gros enough time to cross home and even the score at one run. The Tigers were handed a walk, but a strike out and a pop out ended the inning.

The Blue Jays continued hitting singles, enough to work two runners around the bases and bump their lead up to 3-1 in the fourth inning, then put up a fourth run in the fifth inning. The Blue Jays’ defense sent the Tigers three up and three down, but Otto Candies returned the favor in the sixth inning. To top off the inning, the Tigers’ Steven Burns earned a sliding triple, then ran home on a fly out to center field. Kyle Mineo dropped in another hit, but a fly out ended the inning.

With runners on first and second in the eighth inning, the Blue Jays made a base hit to score, loaded the bases, then score again when a runner from third slide across home on a loose pitch. Down 6-2, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs. Mineo hit the pitch back past second base to bring in a run, followed by a hit by Jordan Brown past the short stop to make the score 6-4.

With one out, a Blue Jay runner jumped to steal second, when a hit flew directly to third base. The ball was caught for the out, then thrown to first for the double play before the runner could tag the base. The Tigers aimed to place a third runner on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, when the third out was made at second base.