EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to Tropical Storm Barry, the Legion state tournament has been rescheduled to begin on July 19.
Destrehan scored three victories in Second District West tournament last week to advance to the American Legion state tournament this weekend, reaching the finals before ultimately bowing out to St. Charles Catholic in the championship round.
Playing under its summer banner of the ES&H Wildcats, Destrehan bested East St. John 8-1, Riverside 11-1 and Lutcher 3-2 to seal a top two spot in the district. SCC won the district, winning the final game 6-3 and besting Destrehan 3-0 earlier in the tourney, accounting for Destrehan’s two losses in the double-elimination competition.
Much of Destrehan’s lineup has turned over from the prep season, but players are stepping up, making a strong district tourney showing possible after an up and down regular season this summer.
“We practice every morning, and these guys have showed up every day to put in the work,” said Destrehan coach Chris Mire. “We have a lot of young guys playing for the first time. We’ve been up and down, but we like where we are.”
Destrehan will open play Friday at the state tournament against Jesuit at Delgado’s Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. That game will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the day’s third game, which is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.
The Lutcher victory propelled DHS into the final game. It saw Gage Harding earn the win for DHS, going 5.2 innings and allowing one earned run on five hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Ahman Morris scored two runs for Destrehan, while Cade Tramuta went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Against Riverside, a 10-run second inning gave DHS complete control, highlighted by a six RBI day by Cameron Dufrene. Dufrene hit a grand slam to highlight that second inning, while Mason Mollere (two runs, three RBIs) Morris (two RBIs, run scored) and Riley Cardinal (2-for-3, double, triple) also made big impacts. Seth Kenney earned the win, going the complete game (five innings, four hits, six strikeouts.)
Dickie Gibbs pitched a complete game one-hitter to help steer DHS past East St. John. He allowed one earned run and struck out five. All nine DHS starters reached base in the game, with Cardinal, Mollere, Gibbs and Noah Simon each collecting two hits.
Cardinal and Simon, Mire noted, have truly asserted themselves this summer, hitting cleanup and leadoff, respectively.
The slate of foes at state includes some stiff competition: Gauthier Amedee, Pedal Valves, Southland Hogs are powerhouses, while archrival Hahnville and St. Charles Catholic are other powerful programs awaiting along with game one opponent Jesuit.
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