Pirates pummel Plaquemine 11-1

PLAQUEMINE -- The Kaplan Pirates received a NO. 11 seed at the start of the playoffs, a fact that did not sit well with a team ranked near the top most of the season.

The Pirates can not hate the number that much, though, because they are averaging 11 runs a game in the playoffs. Kaplan came up just short of a dozen for the second straight post season game in an 11-1 win over NO. 27 Plaquemine Tuesday.

“We came here and did what we had to do,” said Kaplan head coach Jason Morvant. “We jumped on them early and took the momentum in the first and kept it.”

Randy Frederick started things for the Pirates in the top of the first with a single to left field. Jacob Frederick followed with a walk and both scored on a double by Tony Frederick. Kaplan added another run to take a 3-0 lead when Tony Frederick scored on a Kyle Hollier single.

That left things in the left hand of Tyler Domingue, who was more than up for the challenge.

“I was feeling great,” said Domingue. “My arm was feeling good in warm ups.

“I pretty much knew right there it would be a good game.”

Morvant agreed.

“He threw a lot of strikes today,” said Morvant. “He had good stuff today and that is what we need out of him.”

Domingue fanned three batters in the bottom of the first inning and finished with 12 strikeouts. The junior allowed only one run and two hits. The Pirates’ offense found little resistance, especially in the top of the fourth.

Jake Faulk singled to lead off the inning. Faulk moved to second on a passed ball and then scored on a double by Hollier, who was thrown out at third. Domingue doubled and found home plate on another double by D.J. Faulk. Following a walk by Kaleb Trahan, Brent Cormier blasted a hit that found the right side of the line in right field and doubled home D.J. Faulk and advanced Trahan to third. The fireworks were still to come.

Jacob Frederick walked to the plate and waited as Plaquemine’s Cody Devillier threw five pitches to set up a full count. It was worth the wait. Frederick took the payoff pitch and smacked it over the center field wall for a three-run home run that put the Pirates up 9-1.

“It was a good count and a good fastball to hit,” said Jacob Frederick.

As the Pirates pounded through the fifth inning, word spread that Cecilia lost 3-0 to Rayville. The loss by the Bulldogs put an end to a potential story line of Cecilia/Kaplan: Round four. The Bulldogs defeated Kaplan three times in district by a total of five runs. Morvant said the Pirates were not looking ahead to such a game.

“I heard about it during the big inning,” said Morvant. “Tony (Fredrick) came up and told me Cecilia lost. It didn’t matter who we play next.

“We just have to keep doing what we are doing.”

Domingue said he is happy for the team to be in the position in which it currently finds itself.

“We have just been making it the past two years,” said Domingue. “We were young and now we are grown up and we want to win it all.”

Kaplan, who will play host to NO. 14 Rayville Saturday at 3 p.m., added two more runs in the top of the fifth when Jacob Frederick and Jake Faulk drove home Randy Frederick and Brent Cormier, respectively.

“We are starting to get hot at the right time,” said Morvant. “That is what you have to do. You take it one more game and then one more game after that.

“You take it one game at a time because you can’t eat the apple in one bite.”