Batter Up!

Hahnville & Destrehan high schools hit the field for the 2008 baseball season

Tigers win first game of year, Destrehan Wildcats fall 4-1

The Hahnville Tigers exploded past Vaderbilt 12-2 in the St. Charles Jamboree on Saturday, using some clutch hitting from Colby Broussard and B.J. Young and a shut down pitching performance from Adam Risinger. The Tigers also picked up a win on Tuesday, riding six hits to a 4-1 victory over St. Michael in their first regular season contest.

Risinger picked up the win on Saturday, giving up only four hits and one run in the rout. Broussard and Young were perfect on the afternoon, with Broussard finishing 3-3 with four RBIs and Young finishing 3-3 with two RBIs. Two of Broussard’s RBIs came on a two-run homerun.

Garret Loup was also impressive in the game, connecting on two of his three trips to the plate and knocking in a run.

“The scrimmages and jamboree have helped us see different situations that kids will be put in later,” Hahnville head coach Kade Rogers said. “It allowed me to see how they react to that situation.”

So far, the Tigers are reacting fine. Hahnville picked up two runs in the first to take an early 2-1 lead, then put the game away with six runs in the second frame. The Tigers padded their lead with two runs in the third and two more in the fifth.

Vanderbilt managed their final run to top the sixth.

“We have steadily gotten better, but there is always room for improvement,” Rogers said.”We are nowhere close to where we need to be. We have done many things well so far, but again we have a lot of room for improvement.”

The quest for improvement will be led by the Tigers stellar senior class.

“We have great leadership from our seniors and hopefully that will continue for us to get better,” Rogers said.

On Tuesday, Loup led the Tigers past St. Michael by recording five strikeouts and two hits.

Also kicking off the season this week is the Destrehan Wildcats, who finished 2007 with a 21-13 record that included two playoff victories and their fifth trip to Zephyr Field in six years.

Though the Wildcats lost their first regular season game by a 4-1 score to 3A No. 1 ranked Parkview Baptist, they picked up a 3-1 win over Brother Martin in the first contest of the Destrehan Jamboree, then played De La Salle to a 0-0 tie.

“I have been encouraged by the progression of this team,” Destrehan head Coach Marty Luquet said. “Our early season scrimmages went well and the pitching staff is rounding out well.”

For 2008, the Wildcats return seven starters, including All-State selections Trey Watkins and Renny Weber.

Watkins finished ’07 with a .495 batting average and stole 29 bases. Weber hit .543 last season with 40 RBIs.

The pitching staff will be led by All-District junior right-hander Hunter Tyree, who finished last season with a 5-7 mark and a 2.60 ERA.

Senior right-handers Caleb Madere and Byron Clark will also be expected to share in the rotation.

Madere had a 3-1 record last year and finished with an ERA of 4.60. Byron Clark was 2-1 with an ERA of 6.07.