HOUMA -- Ellender Memorial couldn’t have scripted its District 8-4A opener much better.

The Patriots used an eight-run first inning to bury Helen Cox early and went on to defeat the Cougars, 14-4, in five innings Tuesday at Ellender Field.

The game ended in the fifth due to the 10-run mercy rule.

"I was pleased that my guys got the bat off their shoulders and swung well," Ellender coach Gus Brown said. "Always good to get a win, especially in district (play)."

Ellender’s bats came to life right away, as the Patriots (7-7 overall) batted around off Cougars (1-9) starter Christian Leblanc in the first inning by sending 11 batters to the plate.

Patriots catcher Mikie Trosclair got the scoring started with a two-run single to center. Ellender starting pitcher Timmy Boudreaux then followed with a bases-clearing triple that extended the lead to 4-0, and on the same play, an errant relay from the outfield allowed Boudreaux to head home for a 5-0 Patriots lead.

Ellender added three more runs in the inning. A run-scoring single through the hole at shortstop from Chance Boudreaux would make it 6-0, and a passed ball from Cougars catcher Brandon Stouflet allowed Boudreaux and Patriots leadoff man Chad Wallis -- batting for the second time in the inning -- to come home for an 8-0 advantage.

As far as Cougars coach Trinni Montez could tell, that was pretty much all she wrote.

"For the most part, the first inning killed us," Montez said. "When you put an eight-spot on the board to begin with, it’s going to hurt you for the rest of the game."

Ellender scored in every inning, building an 11-0 lead by the fourth inning.

Then, trailing 12-2 entering the fifth, the Cougars managed to keep the game alive for another half inning when Matt Davis hit a two-run double to make it 12-4.

But Ellender would come right back in their next at-bat, picking up a run-scoring single to left-center from Cullen Babin to make it 13-4 before Shawn Billiot ended the game with an RBI infield hit to second base.

Timmy Boudreaux, who finished 2-for-2 with two walks and four RBIs, went the distance on the bump for Ellender, striking out 11 and yielding six hits.

Leblanc suffered the loss, tossing only one inning before giving way to Davis, who worked the final three-plus innings in relief.
 

 

BOURG – Jenna Authement was a force on the mound for the South Terrebonne Lady Gators on Monday.

Authement pitched a complete-game one hitter to lead the Lady Gators to a 1-0 win over Ellender Memorial.

“We played pretty good,” South Terrebonne coach Glenn Melancon said. “We beat my old team from last year. It was two heavyweights beating it out. Jenna pitched great for us. She’s been doing great, so far.”

South Terrebonne (4-2 overall) scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kassie Morales started things off with a double, and later scored the winning run on Alicia Bergeron’s double.

Ellender’s Kristi Fitch, who allowed only four hits in the game, went through the minimum nine batters through the first three innings.

“Our bats weren’t there today,” Ellender coach Beth Guidry said. “Kristi’s performance was awesome today. We couldn’t have asked for anything better than that. The team that I have right now is the best team that we’ve had in the past four years and I think we have a shot at going deep into the playoffs.”

South Terrebonne’s Saddi Boudion had her first of two extra-base hits in the fourth inning but was stranded on third.

Raquel Duplantis had the only base hit of the game for the Lady Patriots with a fifth-inning single.

Boudion tripled in the bottom half of the sixth inning and was again stranded on third as the Lady Gators failed to capitalize.

“I thought the defense was there,” Guidry said, “This was a hard game to lose. We were biting tooth and nail to the end. They showed they wanted it more and we can’t help that.”

Boudion went 2-for-3 in the game with a double and a triple.

Authement had three strikeouts and three walks for South Terrebonne. Fitch also had three strikeouts.