May 11, 2005

Beau no's Barbe

By Eric LeBlanc
Sports Editor
(Photo by ERIC LEBLANC)

For the fourth consecutive season, the Destrehan Wildcats will be one of the eight teams to reach the quarterfinals and the state tournament held this year at Zephyr Field. But to get there, the Wildcats had to get through the Barbe Buccaneers on Monday afternoon. And starting pitcher Beau Jones delivered them in grand fashion as he tossed a no-hitter, helping the Wildcats to a 4-0 victory.

Jones allowed only four baserunners the entire game, a walk and three hit batsmen, while striking out nine. Leading the offense was second baseman Kyle Gardere who drove in two runs with a double and a triple.

Jones' tightest spot came in the top of the first. On the first pitch of the game, Jones hit the Barbe leadoff batter. After a flyout, he walked the next batter to put two runner on base. The two runner would then advance on a wild pitch but that was as far as they would get as Jones struck out the next batter and got the next batter to fly out.

The Wildcat offense gave Jones a lead to work with in the bottom of the inning. They wasted no time as shortstop Tyrone Wethers singled and stole second. Then catcher Jacob Long doubled him in to give Destrehan a 1-0 lead. After Long's courtesy runner Demaris Johnson advanced to third on a Jones groundout, left fielder Brandon Stevens brought him in with a sacrifice fly, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Jones hit another batter in the second, but struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. Then in the bottom of the second, center fielder Travis Wethers walked and stole second. One batter later, Gardere would bring him in with a double to put the Wildcats ahead 3-0.

After a groundout and a flyout to start the third, Jones hit his third batter of the game. But Jones would make quick work of him as he caught him getting his jump off of first. First baseman Lynn Matherne quickly threw to second to catch the runner and end the inning.

The Wildcats would score again in the bottom of the fourth. Designated hitter Kyle Shnowski recorded a two-out single and was driven in by a triple from Gardere to give the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.

With a four-run lead to work with, Jones slammed the door shut on the Barbe offense. After the hit batsman in the third, Jones would not allow a baserunner the rest of the game. He struck out the side in the fifth, giving the Wildcats a chance to extend the lead. And they almost did, with back-to-back singles from Stevens and third baseman Alex Boudreaux. After the Stevens single, Boudreaux hit what looked to be a double into right center field. However, the Buccaneers got the ball in quickly and caught Boudreaux in a rundown between first and second. Boudreaux stayed in the rundown long enough to give Stevens a chance to score, but he was thrown out at the plate.

Travis Wethers preserved Jones' no-hitter with a great catch in center field in the bottom of the sixth, and Jones took care of the rest, retiring the last 12 batters he faced and striking out the last two for the win.

With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 22-9 on the season and will advance to the quarterfinals where they will take on Captain Shreve on Friday at 1 p.m. at Zephyr Field.

Other games on Friday include Southwood against Lafayette at 10 a.m., Rummel against Northshore at 4 p.m. and St. Paul’s against Jesuit at 7 p.m.

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