Exorcising Devils

VILLE PLATTE — Pulling out an often used trick play in the bottom of the seventh, the Sacred Heart Trojans slid past the Port Barre Red Devils 7-6 in a non-district contest here Tuesday afternoon.
With bases loaded and two outs, head coach Gary Ashworth decided it was time for the “OH CRAP!!” play.
On the delivery of the pitch, the runners at second and third take off toward the next bag and pretend that they have made a huge mistake, creating confusion for the catcher.
This time it worked to perfection, as the Port Barre signal caller threw down to first base to make the out on the “mistake by the runner”.
But, when he released the ball Garrett Fontenot raced to home plate and slid in safe before the tag could be applied on the return throw to the dish.
After the game, Ashworth talked about the close games that his team has gone through the past two seasons.
“Last year we had 16 one-run games and this year we have had four already,” stated Ashworth. “We can’t get away from them. But, we have won three of them as of today. It just shows the resiliency of our players. They come to the park every day ready to play.”
The game started in Sacred Heart’s favor. After starting pitcher Christian Duplechin shut down the Red Devils in the top of the first, the Trojans struck first blood in the bottom half of the inning when JT Harper scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off of the bat of Garrett Fontenot.
Port Barre took over the lead in the top of the second scoring two runs after Duplechin hit two batters and walked two more and his replacement Cameron Beaver walked a third batter.
Sacred Heart fell behind 4-1 in the top of the third, as Port Barre was able to plate three runs on two singles and a double.
But, that never say die attitude of the Trojans got them the lead back in the bottom of the third when Nick Perry doubled and Harper followed with a two-run bomb over the left-center field wall.
The Red Devils proved to be a thorn in the side of Sacred Heart as they regained the lead again in the top of the fourth, scoring two runs to take a 6-5 lead.
The Trojans were able to tie the game back up in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Garrett Fontenot and Connor Fontenot each reached base with infield singles.
Brandon Fontenot followed with a fielder’s choice, scoring Garrett Fontenot all the way from second base.
After getting the tying RBI, Brandon Fontenot came into the game on the mound in relief.
Fontenot pitched the last two scoreless innings for the Trojans to give them a chance to manufacture the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
Wesley Launey, Brandon Fontenot and Garrett Fontenot all had two hits to lead the Trojans at the plate.
Sacred Heart improves to 8-3 on the year with the win