Hahnville-based Otto Candies locks up state tourney appearance

Beats American Legion squads from Jesuit, Rummel, Brother Martin and Shaw

Hahnville-based Otto Candies has locked up a spot in the American Legion state tournament after beating Retif Oil, Deanie’s Seafood, Peake BMW and Refuel to claim the title in the Southeast Regional Tournament.

Otto Candies 3    Retif Oil 0

Otto Candies relied on an exceptional pitching performance by ace Tyler Lamers to shutout Jesuit-based Retif Oil 3-0 in the first game of the Southeast Regional.

Lamers allowed just one hit in the victory while striking out 13 batters.

Otto Candies took an early 1-0 lead when Garret Smith scored on an error in the first inning. With Lamers cruising from the mound and holding Retif Oil hitless for the first six innings, Otto Candies scored solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings for the 3-0 victory.

Otto Candies head coach David Baudry was impressed with Lamers’ performance.

“It was dominant,” he said. “He was able to throw all of his pitches for strikes. You kind of expect that from him because he pitched in the tougher games for us throughout his career.”

Otto Candies 7    Deanie’s Seafood 4

Otto Candies fought back from an early 2-0 deficit against Rummel-based Deanie’s Seafood, exploding for six runs in the fifth inning on their way to a 7-4 victory.

Chase Bagot keyed the six-run outburst by tripling in Dylan Keller. Drew Favre followed with a single to plate Bagot and tie the game at 2-2.

But Otto Candies wasn’t done yet.

Lamers gave his team the lead with a single to right, and Smith followed with a single to left to score Waylon LeBlanc, which put Otto Candies on top 4-2.

Later in the inning, Todd Porche extended the advantage with a two-RBI single.

Otto Candies final run of the game came in the seventh inning when Bradley Aucoin singled to center to score Logan Billingsley.

Lamers led Otto Candies from the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Porche was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, while Smith, Aucoin, Bagot and Favre each drove in runs in the victory.Mark Abate picked up the win for Otto Candies.

Otto Candies 6    Peake BMW 4

After leading his team to a victory from the stripe, Abate came through from the plate to give his squad a 6-4 victory over Brother Martin-based Peake BMW.

Abate went 3-for-4 in the game with three RBIs, including a two-run triple to break a tie and give Otto Candies the victory.

Hahnville’s Peyton Robert gave his team the first lead of the game in the first inning when he knocked an RBI single. In the third, Keller blasted a single of his own to put his squad on top 2-0.

In the sixth, Abate singled to center, scoring Robert and Bagot to extend the Otto Candies lead to 4-1.

Peake BMW stormed back in the seventh inning after a triple and balk brought in three runs to tie the game at 4-4.

That set the stage for Abate’s  game-winning triple in the bottom of the frame.

Baudry was surprised that Abate put together such an impressive performance from the plate after pitching eight innings the day before.

“He threw a tremendous game against Rummel and came back the next day with two big hits that lifted us,” Baudry said.

LeBlanc picked up the win for Otto Candies after coming on in relief for the final two innings.

Otto Candies 4 Refuel 2

After the win over Peake, Otto Candies advanced to the Southeastern Regional Tournament championship against Shaw-based Refuel.

Lamers pitched a complete game in his team’s 4-2 victory and Keller came through with two RBIs.

Keller gave his team an early lead with a single in the first inning and lined another run-scoring single in the fourth to put Otto Candies on top 3-1.

Each team scored a run in the sixth, but Lamers kept Refuel off the board in the seventh to secure the win.

Baudry said his team’s success in the regional tournament has been because of the experience that comes with senior leadership.

“We are probably one of the more experienced teams in American Legion baseball in this tournament,” he said. “For Lamers, Keller and Porche, this is their third summer playing American Legion. We have also pitched extremely well and we are doing a good job of getting guys on base.

“We are playing with a lot of focus and are playing hard.”

Otto Candies will be the top seed in the state tournament, which will be held at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium from July 19-23.

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply