Pedal Valves is headed to the American Legion State tournament after winning last weekend’s Second District tournament at Hahnville, while Townsend Homes (St. Charles Catholic) and Otto Candies (Hahnville)each advanced to the Southeast Regional at Delgado’s Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. The district champion Pedal Valves team combines players from several metro area teams with a heavy concentration of River Parishes talent, including Destrehan alums Brandon Wild, Andrew Morrow and Jared Montz. The team defeated the Destrehan-based ES&H Wildcats, 4-2, and Townsend Homes, 3-2. This season, the district champion gets an automatic bid to the Legion state tournament.
ES&H was eliminated from Legion play at the tourney, as both the Wildcats and Otto Candies saw their seasons on the line in an elimination game Saturday, the winner advancing to the Southeast Regional. Otto Candies led ES&H 9-2 but had to hold off a late rally from their rivals to advance with a 9-8 victory.
Otto Candies (14-8-1) will face Rummel-based Deanie’s Seafood in the regional’s first game Saturday at 9 a.m. The tournament is double-elimination.
The Southeast Regional has become an annual tradition for Otto Candies, who have reached the tourney every season of coach David Baudry’s tenure with the Tigers. This season, Baudry has used the Legion season mostly to prepare his team for next prep season — staff ace Austin Perrin has pitched just seven innings as the potential staff depth of the 2017 Tigers is evaluated — and he said the Regional never fails to provide strong experience for his players.
The Wildcats scored six runs over the sixth and seventh innings to close the gap to 9-8. But Peyton Keller’s eighth inning solo home run gave Otto Candies some breathing room and eventually that 10-8 score held as the final.
“We bounced back after the last time (Otto Candies lost to ES&H 6-5 near the end of the regular season,” Otto Candies coach David Baudry said. “The big thing for us was while they came back, we didn’t let them take the lead. When you get into the late innings on that second day, it’s hot, you’re into your pitching staff and it can be easy to fall apart, but we maintained our lead and Peyton came up really huge for us.”
David Vial earned the win, starting and allowing one hit and two runs over five innings. He struck out six and walked five. Colin Maise, Matt Champagne and Lloyd Landry combined to pitch the final four innings in relief.
Otto Candies’ Hunter LeBlanc went 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Josh Nunez went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Cade Miguez drove in two runs, while Keller, Joey Saucier and Brennan Warren each collected two hits.
LeBlanc leads the Tigers in batting this summer with a .453 average, RBIs with 19 and runs with 14 while Miguez boasts a .352 average.
Friday action saw Townsend ace Brennan Gilberti hold Otto Candies to three hits and one run over 6.1 innings. He struck out six and walked two.
Austin Rice took the loss for Otto Candies, going 6.2 innings and allowing three unearned runs on three hits. He struck out three.
With Gilberti on, five errors ultimately proved too much for Otto Candies to overcome. That’s something Baudry said his team cannot afford to repeat at the regional.
“Offensively, we hit the ball well (at the district tournament), but you can’t commit those errors and allow three unearned runs. We lost 4-2 and you see how quickly that adds up,” Baudry said.
Baudry said Perrin isn’t likely to pitch at the regional, but the coach believes his staff has the depth it takes to make a strong regional run and potentially earn a berth at state.
Be the first to comment