Payton Stubbs may not have started Tuesday’s game, but he indeed finished it.
Stubbs’ RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Braden Fenerty for the winning run and walk-off victory as Destrehan defeated visiting E.D. White 3-2.
Chase Marcotte singled to lead off the inning and Jack Conravey sacrificed him to second with a bunt. Fenerty came on to pinch run. That set up Stubbs to drive a ball to right field and seal the win for the Wildcats.
Destrehan (11-6) was charged up after the game – and for good reason.
It was Destrehan’s fourth consecutive victory and a big one at that. E.D. White had Nicholls’ committed pitcher Tyler Weimer on the hill and the Cardinals (9-7) rank No. 7 in the Division II select power point rankings.
“It was a great team win today,” said Destrehan head coach Chris Mire. “We knew coming in, when we saw who they had throwing, what kind of challenge this was going to be and what it was going to take to win. We talked about handling the early part of the game and giving ourselves a chance to win in the end.”
Mission accomplished. Destrehan scored runs in each of the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead, getting to Weimer early on via an RBI single by Jayse DeGruy then another RBI by Shane Lee.
“We got off to a great start – I thought we had some really good at-bats to start the game. We knew (against Weimer) we’d have to play one run at a time and we bunted a little earlier than we normally would,” Mire said.
Weimer settled in from there, retiring the next eight batters and giving his team a chance to rally.
The Cardinals’ Hudson Simoneaux and Grant Barbera each drove in runs to pull the Cardinals into a tie by the late innings.
“We talked in the top of the sixth – we were exactly where we said we wanted to be before the game,” Mire said. “We’d kind of squandered a few opportunities to go back ahead again, but we were still putting together good at-bats.”
Finally, Stubbs delivered that big hit. He came off the bench for a pair of at-bats, one of them very memorable.
Destrehan’s depth has resulted in a number of players rotating in and out of the starting lineup this season. Mire said Stubbs was ready for the call when it was his time to enter the game.
“He could have been in his feelings about not starting, but he came off the bench and delivered when we needed him to,” Mire said. “We feel like we have 12 to 14 guys who can go out and produce. So, your name may not be called every day, but you have to be ready to go when it’s time . He stayed focused and dialed in, and was ready for his opportunity. That’s a credit to him.”
Braden Fenerty started the game – and kept going. The plan was to utilize him as an opener for an inning or two, but he kept getting outs, ultimately lasting five innings.
“He’s a senior who’s been having some really good outings for us,” said Mire. “We’ve wanted to use him as an opener to set the tone early … we tried him in that role earlier in the season and he had a tough outing. We liked him in that role, though, and wanted to give him another opportunity. He took advantage and he kept getting guys out.”
Conravey, meanwhile, was called upon as the third pitcher of the day following Fenerty and Alex Schiff.
“(Schiff’s) our Mr. Reliable, but we’d been using him a lot over the weekend and knew he wasn’t going to have much left in the tank on what was supposed to be his off day. (Conravey) came in and did a great job, he kept putting up zeros and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Fenerty finished with four strikeouts and a run allowed on five hits over five innings. Conravey earned the win, going 3.1 shutout innings with one hit allowed and four strikeouts.
Marcotte finished his day with a team-high three hits.
Destrehan began rounding into form last year about this time, and the Wildcats have been stacking up wins of late. A 4-2 win over Fontainebleau, a 9-6 win over South Terrebonne and a 4-2 win over Holy Cross have moved Destrehan to an 11-6 overall mark this season.
“I think this is the time of year we finally get to come home and play – we play a lot of road games to start off – and we start best understanding everyone’s roles,” Mire said.
“It’s always big for us to win these home games and get going before we start district.”
