April 9, 2005

Wildcats fall to Terrebonne

By Eric LeBlanc
Sports Editor
(Photo by ERIC LEBLANC)

The Destrehan Wildcats were defeated by the Terrebonne Tigers Tuesday afternoon 7-2. The Wildcats were done in by six errors and a four-hit pitching performance by Terrebonne’s Greg Cornwell.

The Wildcats were led at the plate by center fielder Travis Wethers who accounted for both Wildcat runs with an RBI double and a run scored. First baseman Beau Jones and left fielder Brandon Stevens also doubled. Relief pitcher Ainsley Richoux pitched well, going five innings while giving up just two unearned runs on five hits and two walks. He also struck out four.

The Wildcats fell behind early as an error led to the first run in the first inning. Then three batters later, Terrebonne first baseman Henry Preaux drove a two-run home run over the center field fence to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

The Wildcats got a two-out double from Jones in the bottom of the first, but a ground out ended the inning.

The Tigers put two more runs on the board in the second with two hits, a walk and two errors to make the score 5-0. The Wildcats had runners at first and second after third baseman Stephen Fischer singled and designated hitter Kyle Shnowski was hit by a pitch, but the inning ended with another ground out.

Richoux came on in the third and kept the Tigers scoreless for the first time in the game. But the Tigers struck again in the fourth after a walk and two errors produced another two runs.

The Wildcats threatened again in the fifth after Shnowski was hit by a pitch and shortstop Tyrone Wethers walked, but another ground out ended the threat.

Richoux pitched well the rest of the game. In the sixth, he struck out the first two batters and only allowed one more baserunner in the seventh.

That pitching enabled the Wildcats to try to make a comeback. In the bottom of the sixth, Stevens doubled with one out. Two batters later, Travis Wethers drove a ball in the left-center field gap and brought Stevens in. An error in the outfield on the play enabled Wethers to come all the way around to score to close the gap to 7-2. However, the Wildcats would not get another baserunner in the game and fell to the Tigers.

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 15-7 overall and 5-2 in district. Destrehan will travel across the river today to take on parish rival Hahnville at 3:30 p.m.

Eric LeBlanc can be reached at EricL@heraldguide.com or at (985) 758-2795, ext. 219.