Bobcats grab key district wins over Broncos, Gators
When the rain halted the crucial contest between Eunice and Sam Houston Wednesday night, the Bobcats were leading 3-1 in the top of the sixth inning.
On the field the coaches discussed the continuation of the game for next week, but a call to the Louisiana High School Athletic Association closed to the book as an official contest and a key District 4-4A win for the Bobcats.
“I called the LHSAA and they told me it counted as a completed game,” Eunice head Scott Phillips said. “It was great to see our guys perform the way they did.”
With the win, Eunice improved to 13-9 overall and 4-1 in district. Sam Houston dropped to 19-6 overall and 5-1 in district play.
“This win was big as it puts us a half game behind Sam Houston in the standings,” he continued. “But we still can’t drop any others to stay in the hunt.”
After leaving two men on in the first two innings, the Bobcats grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the thirdwhen Stuart Turner singled and Jacque Fruge blasted a home run over the left centerfield wall.
“After leaving runners at second and third in both of the first two innings, Jacque’s home run was huge,” Phillips said. “Austin (Young) pitched great and the defense backed him up well.”
Sam Houston closed the gap to 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning when Philip Menou was hit by a pitch and later stole home.
Eunice added an insurance run in the bottom of the third when Chris McCoy singled and scored on a double by Austin Young.
In the opening inning, Turner and Fruge both singled but were left stranded in scoring position.
In the second stanza, Brett Baldwin and McCoy singled but neither could cross home plate.
The Bobcats had base runners on in every inning, but left six stranded while the Broncos had seven left on base including one in the top of the sixth when the game was called because of the rain.
The Eunice defense made several critical stands in the contest including tag outs at third, first and home plate.
Young earned the win as he struck out three, walked one and had two hitbatsmen and allowed four hits. Young also went 1-for-3 with a RBI double to help his cause at the plate.
Turner and Fruge went 2-for-3, while Chris McCoy was 2-for-2 with a run scored.
EHS 19, LHS 9
LAKE CHARLES – The Eunice High Bobcats added another notch to their District 4-4A win column Thursday with a 18-9 victory over LaGrange.
The Bobcats (14-9; 5-1) started off with a blast, when Stuart Turner nailed the ball over the fence to score himself and Austin Young in the top of the first inning.
Later, Brett Baldwin drove in two runs on a base hit.
The Gators added two runs in the second half, and tied Eunice 6-6 going into the fourth inning.
Eunice scored three runs in the top of the fourth, but LaGrange quickly narrowed their lead to 9-8 in the second half.
The Bobcats then broke out with five runs in the top of the fifth; Mitchell Fuselier doubled to drive in one run, and then scored on an error.
Young scored on a wild pitch before Miles Fontenot’s 2 RBI base hit gave Eunice a 14-8 lead.
Eunice scored four insurance runs in the top of the sixth, and limited the Gators to only one run in the second half for the win.
The Bobcats continue district play Tuesday, hosting the Dragons of DeRidder at 6 p.m.