Destrehan overcomes rival Hahnville for 6-3 victory

With Austin Perrin on the hill, Hahnville bested Destrehan twice last season.

The Wildcats weren’t going to let it happen again.

Destrehan scored the first five runs of the game and rode that momentum to a 6-3 victory at Hahnville Tuesday, handing the Tigers their first home loss of the season in the District 7-5A opener for both teams.

Kohen Granier hit a home run, drove in two runs and reached base in all four of his plate appearances. Evan Keller went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Jared Montz went 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

“I think it’s pretty big,” Montz said. “It’s a good way to set the tone for district. We just want to play our best baseball.

“We hit our pitch, played our game and put the pressure on them early to make them make mistakes.”

The Wildcats were unable to solve Perrin last season as the left-hander went 2-0 against Destrehan, a fact DHS coach Chris Mire noted his team was well-aware of.

“Trust me, we covered that,” Mire said. “We’ve got a ton of respect for Austin Perrin. We know what kind of competitor he is. We took it as a challenge. You never want a guy to think he owns you. We wanted to come out and prove that this is going to be a rivalry until he graduates. We’re not just going to give this away now.

“Sometimes you find some gaps; sometimes you hit it right at people. Today, fortunately, was our day.”

Perrin took the loss for Hahnville, allowing six runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out five over 4.1 innings.  Offensively, he accounted for Hahnville’s lone hit. He scored two runs.

Nolan Lemoine earned the win in relief for the Wildcats. Three Destrehan pitchers — Bryce Scioneaux, Lemoine and Marceaux — combined to throw a one-hitter, though the trio combined to walk nine.

Hahnville’s last threat came in the final inning after the Tigers’ Waylon LeBlanc drew a leadoff walk. Pat Phelan came up next and hit a sharp grounder to pitcher Landon Marceaux, who made a nifty defensive stop that turned into a double play. Marceaux recorded one more out and preserved the win.

Destrehan scored its first run of the day in the first inning when Keller drew a bases loaded walk to force home Granier. Granier had his hand in the day’s first two runs, as it turned out — his solo home run to lead off the third inning made it 2-0.

“We looked to be aggressive at the plate,” Granier said. “We always have same mentality going into games. This one was just a little more intense, with a lot more on the line.”

The Wildcats made their biggest mark in the fourth inning, though. Keller doubled to lead things off. Peter Carmichael sacrificed to push Keller to third base. Andrew Morrow reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing up Montz, who tripled to right field to score both runners. Granier singled Montz home to make it 5-0.

Hahnville (14-5, 0-1) answered back in its half of the fourth. Perrin, Bryce Hargis and LeBlanc all drew walks with no outs, then Matthew Barbier and Keller each drew walks to force runs in with one out. Nolan Lemoine came on in relief for DHS and secured two outs to end the inning.

Each team went on to add another run, but Hahnville could not close the gap.

“I thought we made a run but we needed to make more of a run,” Hahnville coach David Baudry said.  “I thought at that point, it was 5-0, I thought we needed to get it to 5-4. When we got to 3, it was good, but I felt we needed to get more. I thought it would come down to who could make the most of their opportunities to score. They took advantage of every one and that’s why they won the ballgame.” The teams are set to rematch at Destrehan on April 7.

 

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