Blue Jays shut out by Crowley
By Tom Dodge
With only two base runners through the first six innings and trailing by nine runs, Eunice Blue Jay head coach Tré Brown instructed his team to “swing out of their shoes” to try and get back into the one-sided game.
But in the end, the Crowley Millers put the Jays down in order in the seventh to seal the 9-0 shut-out win.
Eunice’s only threat came in the bottom of the third inning when Jeff Fontenot singled and Taylor Eval belted a double into the gap. but both were left stranded.
“We have been hitting the ball well,” Brown said. “We didn’t hit it very well, but tonight we just didn’t get it done.”
Crowley (5-3) jumped ou to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second and would never look back in a must-win game for the Millers to remain alive for the playoffs.
Kyron Benoit singled and scored on a single by Coy Guidry.
Matt Savoie reached on an infield error and scored on a sacrifice from Blaine Richard.
After a scoreless third inning, the Millers added three more runs in the fourth to forge a 5-0 lead.
Savoie and Guidry hit back-to-back doubles to start the one-out rally.
Savoie scored on a single to right field by Richard, while Guidry scored on another Blue Jay error.
Crowley extended its lead to 6-0 in the top of the fifth inning when Mike Doughty reached on an error and scored on a double to right field by Guidry.
The game was put out of reach in the top of the seventh inning when the Millers belted solo home runs from Bryant Gilbert and Benoit.
Guidry, who also earned the complete-game win on the mound, doubled and later scored on the fourth Blue Jay error of the contest.
Guidry struck out five and only allowed two hits with no walks in the win.
Blue Jays starter Edward Turk lasted four innings and fanned three and allowed five runs on six hits.
Reliever Austin Cooper fanned six, walked one and allowed four runs on eight hits.
The Blue Jays close out their first American Legion season 7 p.m. Tuesday against the Eunice Oilers at North Park.
The Blue Jays (4-5) chose not to participate in the Regional tournament in their first season of competition even if they qualified
“It was a great summer as part of the new experiment of two teams in Eunice,” Brown said.
“Next summer we will know better what to do.
“We played pretty well and faced some good teams.
“It would be great to have bragging rights with a win next Tuesday,” Brown said of the match-up against the cross-town rivals.