Destrehan looked to have cooled off after major rainfall kept the Wildcats sidelined for more than a week, culminating with a loss to Catholic of Baton Rouge Sunday. But DHS roared back Monday with a decisive 6-0 victory over Rummel at home.
Nolan Lemoine’s two-hit shutout paced the Wildcats Monday. Lemoine struck out six and walked just one in his complete game effort.
Destrehan took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and held onto that advantage into the fifth inning, when it added three insurance runs. The Wildcats tacked on one more in the sixth for good measure.
Kohen Granier and Dane Simon each recorded doubles in the game. Granier drove in two runs, while Brandon Wild and Simon each scored two runs. Destrehan finished with five hits in the game.
Rummel’s Zack Cook took the loss for Rummel. He allowed five runs (none earned) on four hits. He walked three.
It was a welcome victory for Destrehan, which lost its chance to play three of the four games at the East Ascension tournament due to the weather. The loss to Catholic was the lone contest the team was able to get in.
Mire said that the rain, naturally, causes a great deal of annoyance in a sport so predicated on timing and staying in a routine.
“We’re fortunate enough to have an indoor facility for our hitters to keep practicing, and we’ve tried to have them stand in with our pitchers during their bullpens to get a look at some live pitching,” Mire said. “But it’s tough all the same for guys to focus on practice when so much is up in the air about when or if we’ll play a game, whether we’ll be on the field or indoors again. I’d certainly like to see us get back into a normal routine and start playing consistently again.”
A key will be reheating up offensively. Mire was pleased with how his team’s offense was coming along before the rainfall, the Wildcats posting a 15-0 win over Fontainebleau in its last game before the Catholic-Baton Rouge loss, that victory coming a full eight days earlier.
“Our bats were starting to come around,” Mire said. “I think our guys are in a good place mentally (despite the long layoff), we just need to see some game action.”
Some of that could come this weekend, weather permitting. The Wildcats were set to face off with West Ouachita, Byrd and Assumption at the Gerald Oubre Memorial Tournament.
The Wildcats fought back from a slow start against Catholic Sunday to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning and then a 5-3 lead in the sixth. Each time Catholic fought back, however, the second time to take the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth. A Will Ethridge RBI single scored two runners to tie the game before Brennan Lambert’s double put Catholic ahead for good.
“We didn’t make a play there with two outs when we needed to,” Mire said. “We had a chance to get out of it.
Simon, Brandon Robichaux and Evan Keller each collected RBI singles, with Simon knocking in two runners.
Cole Martin had a rare off day and took the loss for Destrehan, allowing seven runs on seven hits.
Despite the loss, Destrehan still stands in good position. The team is 8-3 and is getting contributions from all over its roster.
One player Mire notes has emerged in a big way has been senior Jared Montz, who is batting over .400 this season and giving his team a boost in the lower part of its lineup.
“I won’t say it’s a shock or that we didn’t think he could do it, but he’s been everything we could have asked for,” Mire said.
“He changed his position for the good of the team, sacrificing something he was comfortable doing to make us better. When we’ve needed to give younger guys time, when it’s been at his expense he handles it like a senior should. Then on the field, his production’s been fantastic. He’s an unselfish guy who’s been a big part of our success so far.”
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