John Burson
In the first game of a double-header in District 5-3A competition between the Church Point High Bears and the Eunice High Bobcats, the Bobcats prevailed with a 16-1 victory at Bobcat Field. The Bobcats, behind the pitching of Tyler Darbonne, limited the Bears to one run in the third inning after the Cats had taken a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Chris Dailey walked and later scored on a double by Wick Venable.
The top of the Eunice order did the early damage against the Bears. Grant Fontenot was hit by a pitch and stole second base to open the game. Austin Phillips followed with a run-scoring triple and Darbonne followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Cats a 3-0 lead.
The Bobcats added five more runs in the third inning on base hits by Tyler Darbonne, Luke Andrepont, Dylan Darbonne, and Zach Suire, building an 8-run lead.
The inning continued with Fontenot’s single, a walk by Phillips, a double by Tlyer Darbonne, and a home run by Seth Deshotel.
The Cats added four additional runs in the fourth inning to end the contest.
Tyler Darbonne earned the win, completing four innnigs. He limited the Bears to three hits, striking out seven.
Hayden Babineaux, the starting pitcher for the Bears took the loss. Morgan Carriere and Gavin Oliver had singles for the Bears.
In the second game, played Tuesday at Church Point, the Bears managed to score single runs in the first and second inning,with Chris Dailey leading the offense with a double. But Bobcat pitcher Grant Fontenot rebounded to shutdown the Bears over the next three innings, but the Bears scored two runs in the sixth before reliever Braiden Rider shut down the Bears in the seventh inning.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bobcats took the lead with three runs in the second inning. The Cats added single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take the lead. The Cats added two runs in the sixth and four in the seventh to claim a 12-4 victory.
Top hitters for the Bobcats on Tuesday included Fontenot and Phillips with two hits apiece. Luke Andrepont had three hits, three stolen bases, and five runs scored.Deondre Courville singled and tripled in four plate appearances. Fontenot worked six innings on the mound, striking out eight. Dailey led the Bears Tuesday with three hits, including a double. Wick Venable had two singles for the Bears.