April 16, 2005

Tigers fly Air Jordan to victory

Starting pitcher tosses 3-hitter, strikes out 8, drives in 5 in victory over Bourgeois

By Eric LeBlanc
Sports Editor
(Photo by ERIC LEBLANC)

Jordan Brown was a one-man wrecking crew against the H.L. Bourgeois Braves Thursday afternoon as he took them down with his arm and with his bat. The Tigers took the game in the fifth inning 10-0.

Brown pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout with eight strikeouts from the mound while driving in five runs on a three-run home run and a two-run single. Catcher Andrew Hickman was two for three with two RBIs and two runs scored. And left field substitute Jessie Dunn had a two-run triple that ended the game.

Brown was dominating from the opening pitch. After getting the Braves' leadoff man to ground out in the top of the first, he struck out the next five batters he faced.

The Tiger bats were also heated up right from the start. Center fielder Ryne Madere led off the game being hit by a pitch. After a ground out, left fielder Aramie Melancon drove Madere in with a single. Hickman then reached on an error. Next up was Brown who promptly drove a ball over the center field fence for a three-run homer and put the Tigers up 4-0.

After two walks turned into outs on the basepaths in the bottom of the second, the Tigers began a two-out rally. Madere started it with an infield single. Second baseman Steven Burns then singled and Melancon loaded the bases with a walk. Hickman then singled, driving in Madere and Burns and giving Hahnville a 6-0 lead.

The deepest Brown got into trouble on the mound was in the top of the third. After a leadoff groundout, the Braves hit back-to-back singles. But Brown got out of the jam by coaxing a ground ball double play.

The Tigers resumed their scoring in the bottom of the fourth. After a flyout and a caught stealing, the Tigers started another two-out rally. Melancon started things off by reaching on an error. Hickman then doubled. And then Brown struck again, driving in Melancon and Hickman's courtesy runner Daron Friloux with a single. That put the Tigers up 8-0.

The substitutes came on the field in the top of the fifth, but Brown didn't need much defense behind him as he struck out two of the three batters he faced in the inning.

But the substitutes make some noise offensively in the bottom of the fifth. After one out, Taylor Domengeaux and Luke Savoie both walked. Then with two out, Dunn lined a ball into right field that made its way to the fence. Domengeaux came around to score and Savoie ended the game as he crossed the plate with the winning run. Dunn made it to third and logged a two-run, game-ending triple.

With the victory, the Tigers improve to 25-3 overall and remain undefeated in district with an 11-0 record. Hahnville will next travel to Reserve to take on East St. John today at 1:30 p.m.

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