If you asked any of the JP11U All Stars immediately following their 8 – 3 loss to Minden in the Dixie Youth 11U state baseball tourney, to a man they would have told you they were disappointed. It is what would you would expect for a team to say after being eliminated. They would be the only ones to say that though.
Ask any of the coaches, family members or fans who attended the state tourney in Monroe and they will tell you how proud they are of the team, who hailed from the smallest population area of all tourney entrants, for finishing in third place in the state. What makes the showing even more impressive is that this was accomplished by fighting for their tournament lives from the start.
As a wise man once you don’t judge a person by how many time they get knocked down. You judge them by how many times they get back up.
As reported prior, JP8U opened the tournament by getting beat 5-1 by Monroe. They easily could have folded and played out the string, resting on their District 8 tournament winning laurels. Not this group. Showing tremendous character and determination the locals rallied to best Blanchard by a 10-3 score and then stomp Gonzales 10-0 to move to within one game of the finals.
Unfortunately the bats that were hot on Saturday didn’t transfer to Sunday as the locals were able to only manage three hits off Minden pitching. Jackson Parish kept the game close until the bottom of the third when Minden plated five to take a commanding 8-1 lead. To their credit instead of hanging their heads, JP11U came out swining and scored two in the top of the fourth befroe the last gasp rally fell short.
The game began in promising fashion as Bryce Tolar and Tucker Goss sandwiched singles around a walk to Rylan Mauthe that loaded the bases with no outs. Two outs later Eli Henderson coaxed another walk but that was all the damage that could be over the first three at bats as the strong Minden staff didn’t allow another hit while racking up six strikeouts. Mauthe and Goss walked to open the fourth and both scored following a Dawson Griffin sacrifice fly and a Henderson single.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
| Jackson Parish | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Minden | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | x | 8 | 4 | 0 |
RBI – Henderson 2, Griffin
RS – Tolar, Mauthe, Goss
SB – Tolar, Younse, Mauthe
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