By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Hahnville-based Otto Candies fell a win shy of competing on the final day of the American Legion state tournament for a second straight season, as Brother Martin-Peake BMW took a 5-4 victory in the state semifinals Tuesday.
Owen Magee’s two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning pushed Peake ahead 5-4, and that score held, propelling Peake into a matchup with Gauthier-Amedee Wednesday to determine the Legion champion. Gauthier-Amedee defeated Peake BMW 9-5 to advance to the Mid-South Regional in North Little Rock, Ark. Peake – or Otto Candies – would have needed two victories over Gauthier-Amedee to capture the state crown, as Gauthier-Amedee was undefeated entering the final day of the double-elimination tournament.
Otto Candies fell to Gauthier-Amedee Sunday. It defeated the Delhomme Drillers (Acadiana) and the Crowley Millers.
Otto Candies seemed primed to advance to the final day after getting out to a 4-0 lead in the game’s early stages. Todd Porche’s first inning RBI single was the day’s first score, then in the third inning, Porche’s RBI double combined with run-scoring singles by Tyler Lamers and Matt Fontenot to make it 4-0.
“We hit it hard,” said Baudry. “Early on, we had, I want to say, 10 hits in the first three and a half innings. We just didn’t get that clobber shot.”
Peake BMW made a pair of big defensive plays early, getting Otto Candies out twice at the plate after base hits.
“We made two aggressive plays … I wouldn’t even call them mistakes,” said Baudry. “We had runners out at the plate a couple of times that contributed to us not getting as much production on our early hits.”
Lamers allowed no runs through five innings, but Peake finally got to the Otto Candies starter in the sixth when Cody Ducote and Magee each collected RBI singles. Daniel Lahare’s eighth-inning RBI single made it 4-3, setting up Magee to win the game.
“Magee came up and had a tremendous at-bat,” said Baudry. “”We got it to two outs, but he gave them what they needed in the clutch.”
Tyler Simmons took the loss in relief for Otto Candies, after Lamers started the game.
Otto Candies finished the summer with a record of 26-10. While the team fell short of reaching the Mid-South Regional, as it did a year ago, the team caps the best two-year Legion run for a Hahnville-based team.
“The summer was a tremendous success,” said Baudry. “I thought we came in ready for tournament play. We played well against Gauthier-Amedee … that’s a good team, a complete baseball team. I thought it was the same against (Peake). It wasn’t that we didn’t play well enough to win. I thought both teams did and they just came out on top.”
Much of the team’s core will now be moving on after the two-year run. Baudry said he knows Hahnville will have some holes to fill next prep season, but that the cupboard is hardly bare. Tyler Lamers and Todd Porche each had strong summers on the mound, while Dylan Keller and Mark Abate should have roles cemented in centerfield and at third base respectively.
“Those guys should come back strong for us,” said Baudry. “We also have a nice influx of younger guys coming in who, depending on the work they put in, have a chance to be pretty good next year.”