By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Hahnville-based Otto Candies avenged an early season loss to St. Charles Catholic-based Townsend Homes, capturing a 5-1 victory at home in American Legion Second District action. 

“We had a lot more intensity today,” said Otto Candies’ Drew Favre, whose key two-run single in the fourth inning helped break things open. “We wanted to make sure we were a different, better team this time around.”

Favre’s two-run hit helped fuel a three-run fourth inning that saw Otto Candies break open what was a 1-1 tie game.

Otto Candies used three pitchers in the game, with Trent Bergeron, Beau Evans and Waylon LeBlanc combining to hold Townsend to just three hits.

Otto Candies (10-4-1) struck first in the bottom of the third inning after back-to-back singles by Peyton Robert and Tyler Lamers set up a sacrifice fly by Garret Smith.

Townsend Homes fired back with a tying run in the top of the fourth, Austin Weber scoring on a wild pitch after reaching on a bunt single with no outs. 

But just as it did in the third, Otto Candies led off the fourth with a pair of back-to-back singles, this time with Todd Porche and Matt Fontenot doing the damage. Porche stole second and advanced from to third on Fontenot’s single, leading to a sacrifice fly RBI by Dylan Keller. Mark Abate walked before Favre laced a two-run single to make it 4-1. 

“Getting those first two hits with no outs went a long way,” said Favre. 

Otto Candies tacked on a fifth run in the fifth on a Townsend Homes error.

But despite that error, Townsend Homes’ defense kept the team within striking range for much of the day. Weber made a full extension catch at second base in the second inning before doubling off a runner at first. Left fielder Brady Becker threw another runner attempting to extend a single into a double, and in the third SCC executed a successful pickoff play to escape a jam.

Otto Candies made some plays of its own, though, in particular two throws by catcher Matt Fontenot to catch Comet runners stealing in the second and third innings respectively. 

With the Second District tournament set to begin Friday, Otto Candies and Townsend (7-5) are moving in different directions. 

Otto Candies,  said coach David Baudry, has started to really find a groove after playing four games over the weekend. 

“We’re starting to hit our stride,” Baudry said. “The big thing for today was to find enough pitching. We’ve got a deep staff. Today, (LeBlanc) came in to close it out and pitched really well. He’s a freshman and didn’t get to pitch much during the regular season, he mostly concentrated on shortstop.”

Townsend, meanwhile, has lost four straight, including a 9-0 loss at the hands of Shaw Saturday. Townsend was held to just two hits in that game.

Offense has been an issue of late. Stein said that it comes down to taking advantage of opportunities.

“Unfortunately, it feels like a flashback to Evangel,” Stein said, referencing his team’s 2-0 quarterfinal loss to the Eagles in prep season. “Especially when you’ve got the wooden bats, you’re going to have a few situations where you can push a few runs across, and you just have to take advantage when they’re there.”

“In the summer, when you get a chance to win, you’ve got to get it,” Stein said. “I hate to harp on it, but we let one go against Brother Martin. We’ve also faced a stretch of very good pitching.”