Central Lafourche rolls past Assumption

Central Lafourche entered its game against Assumption as the top-ranked team in District 6-5A, and it did not take long for the Trojans to show why they have the best record in the district, en route to a 9-6 win.

The Trojans got off to a quick start, and led 5-0 after two innings.

And despite Assumption tying the score 6-6 in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Trojans (6-1 district, 15-10 overall) finished the game as well as they started it, scoring three 7th-inning runs to secure the win.

Trojans coach Scott Duplantis said he was impressed with how his team adjusted to Assumption reliever Justin Falcon. “Offensively, I thought we did real well,” said Duplantis. “The guy they brought into relief did an excellent job mixing up the pitches, throwing curveballs, landing it for strikes and having us jumping all over the box. Hats off to him, he did a great job.

“I don’t know if it’s just the fact that we got to see him three times through the order, but that third time around, we ended up picking up three (runs) on him.”

For Assumption coach Daniel Manry, the 5-0 deficit was too much for his team to overcome. “The thing about when you play good teams … you can’t fall behind that early,” said Manry. “You really hurt yourself. That changes all the momentum of the game. We had a chance to make some plays early, maybe hold them to one run in that first inning—they get three (runs). We had a chance to stop them to no runs in the second inning, and they get two. Now we’re down 5-0.”

But although it took most of the game, the Mustangs chipped away at the Central Lafourche lead, scoring a run in the 2nd inning, three runs in the 4th inning and two runs in the 6th inning.

In the two-run 6th inning, Jake Barbier led off with a triple to deep right field. Two batters later, Barbier scored on an error by Trojans’ shortstop Neil Adams, cutting the Trojans lead to 6-5.

Later in the inning, Bart Bolotte’s single to centerfield scored Ben Talbot, tying it 6-6.

The next batter popped out to end the inning.

Duplantis said he was pleased with the pitching from starter Walt Foran and closer Andy Stewart.

“Walt did great,” said Duplantis. “A pitcher gets tired and he starts giving up a few runs.”

Duplantis pointed at the infield positions, which committed a number of errors. “It’s three games in a row we make a lot of errors, and give a lot of runs away. We’re just very fortunate that we’re 2-1 in those games, and not 1-2 or 0-3.”

Despite the Mustangs’ battling back, Central Lafourche answered in the top of the 7th inning. With one out and the bases loaded, Adams connected perfectly and hit two-run double down the third-base line, putting the Trojans ahead 8-6.

Two batters later, Kevin Caro stole home on a passed ball, making it 9-6.

Early in the game, the Trojans scored three runs on four hits in the 1st inning. Walt Foran pushed that lead to 5-0 in the 2nd inning, when he cracked a two-run homer over the centerfield wall.

Foran earned the win in six innings of action, giving up nine hits on the day. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Tyler Hue suffered the loss for Assumption. In two innings of action, he gave up six hits and five runs.