The annual regular season-ending contest between the St. Edmund Blue Jays and the Eunice High Bobcats produced an offensive explosion for both teams and a nightmare for pitchers as the two teams combined to score 36 runs and bang out 35 hits as the Bobcats rallied late to claim a 20-16 victory.
Neither starting pitcher, Jack Brown for the Jays and Ian George for the Cats, survived the second inning.
The Jays would send four more pitchers to the mound and the Cats would use three relief pitchers, with Jonas Granger holding the Jays to a single run over the final two innings to earn the mound win.
Coach Scott Richard’s Blue Jays took a 7-0 lead, with six of those coming in the second inning.
Mike Zaunbrecher had a single and a double to lead the way, while Lance Miller, Will Turk, Brad Miller, Jack Miller, and Jack Brown adding singles.
Coach Scott Phillips’ Bobcats responded with a seven-run in the bottom of the second inning.
Key hits in the inning came from Tyler Darbonne and Jaydon Brasseaux, both of whom doubled. Josh Youngblood, Gunner Fontenot, and Austin Phillips added singles and Christian Taylor contributed with a sacrifice fly as the Cats tied the game.
The Blue Jays regained the lead with three runs in the third inning.
Zaunbrecher and Brad Miller had triples to lead the way to go back on top by a 10-7 score.
But the Cats answered back in the bottom of the inning with four runs take an 11-10 lead. Phillips, Fontenot, and Granger had doubles in the inning for the Cats, with Zac Guillory and Christian Taylor driving in runs.
The Blue Jays came right back at the Bobcats, scoring four runs in the fourth inning to regain the lead at 14-11. Luke Doucet and Austin Gradney had doubles in the inning, with Turk driving in two runs with a single.
The back-and-forth scoring continued in the bottom of the fourth, with the Cats scoring two runs to cut the lead to 14-13. Youngblood singled and Cade Richard was hit by a pitch and both scored as Phillips doubled and Fontenot hit a sacrifice fly to score the runs.
The Jays added a run in the fifth inning to lead 15-13, but the Cats scored two in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at 15-15 thanks to doubles by Taylor and Brasseaux.
Granger would shutout the Jays in the top of the sixth inning and his teammates gave him the lead with a five-run sixth inning. Richard singled home two runs and Guillory, Darbonne, and Brasseaux each drove in a run to give the Cats a 20-15 advantage.
The Jays scored a run against Granger in the seventh inning on sacrifice fly by Brad Miller, but Granger got a strikeout and his catcher, Youngblood picked off a baserunner at first base to end the game.