By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — East St. John didn’t fold up its tent after falling behind Central Lafourche 5-0 in the first inning of the two teams’ District 7-5A game Thursday, but its rally ultimately fell short.

Mason Santoya went 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs to lead Central Lafourche to a 13-9 victory in Reserve, leaving the two teams tied early on in district play with identical 1-1 marks. 

Central Lafourche loaded the bases with one out in the first inning and went on to score five runs, landing an early blow fueled in part by three walks and a pair of Wildcat errors. 

“It comes down to that first inning. After that, we scored nine to their eight, but we dug the early hole,” said East St. John coach Shan Williams. “We started slow, got distracted and made a bunch of mental errors. Those lead to runs.”

ESJ starter Ryan Foster has been off to a good start this season but struggled with location early, issuing three first inning walks and six overall in 3.2 innings.

“He didn’t have his best stuff today,” said Williams. “He battled, but he threw 40 to 50 pitches over those first two innings and we couldn’t get him deep into the game.”

Central Lafourche’s Brady Dufrene drew a bases loaded walk to plate the day’s first run, then two more runs scored on a fielding error on a ball hit by Benton Pierce. Colin Richard and Tyler Chaisson each singled home runs to make it 5-0.

In the second inning, Foster retired the first two batters before Santoya socked a home run over the left field wall to make it 6-0. An RBI double by Dufrene pushed the lead to 7-0.

“That home run could have been the best or worst thing for us,” said Central Lafourche coach Simon Badeaux. “When a guy hits one out, especially when you’ve got a solid tailwind blowing out of here, guys tend to wanna go hit one out themselves. But our guys stuck to the gameplan and to their approach.”

ESJ (3-14) got on the board in the second and third innings, but Central Lafourche (7-10) led 9-3 before the Wildcats made things truly interesting in the fourth.

I’Kee Brown drew a leadoff walk followed by a Derrick Johnson single, setting the table for a potential big inning. Donald August collected his second RBI of the day with a single to left to make it 9-4. Trojans pitcher Chandler Richard struck out Roshaud Taylor but hit Kyle Patterson to load the bases; Phil Adams laced a single to center to make it 9-5, then I’Leke Brown hit into a fielder’s choice but plated ESJ’s sixth run of the day. But the Trojans caught Patterson in a run down between third base and home plate to end the inning. 

“We had a little something going there, but we ran ourselves out of an opportunity there. We had the top of the lineup coming up and a chance to maybe score a couple more,” said Williams. 

Central Lafourche’s Owen Hebert hit a sharp grounder that scored two runs to answer in the fifth. The Wildcats didn’t get as close as within three again. 

Chase Henderson and I’Leke Brown each finished with two RBIs for ESJ. Adams racked up three hits. Johnson also drove in a run for ESJ.

 

ESJ 6, SOUTH LAFOURCHE 3 — East. St. John earned their third victory of the season Tuesday via a 6-3 win on the road at South Lafourche (7-7).

Amani Martin went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Don Creecy and Chase Henderson drove in runs and Derrick Johnson logged two hits to lead the Wildcats at the plate. 

Errol Cemelien earned the win, going 6.1 innings and allowing no earned runs. Creecy earned the save in relief. The two combined to allow just two hits.