Just like an old engine that has been set up a while, the 7U All Star baseball team from Jackson Parish sputtered in the beginning before they got warmed and started running at full capacity. Then they ran out of gas.
The result was a 2-2 showing in elimination portion of the Dixie Youth State Baseball Tournament after dropping the first two games in pool play of the 1- team tourney played in Tioga. With three teams in each of the four pools, Jackson Parish had the misfortune of being paired with Gonzales and Ruston, both sporting a much larger base from which to select their All-Star teams from. The locals gave a good effort but fell short in both games, relegating them to a low seed in the bracket of the 12 team, double elimination portion of the tournament.
Concordia Parish 16 Jackson Parish 3: The outcome wasn’t what was wanted against one of the top seeds in the tourney but the locals came away with a good feeling as the offense, which was virtually non-existent in pool play began to show some life. Ten of the twelve batters reached base and while it wasn’t a large total, scoring more runs in the one game than they had in the previous two combined brought hope.
Leland Anderson and Wyatt McGrew, who added a triple, both went 2/2 and scored a run in the contest assisted by Nash Moak and Grant Williams who got a hit and knocked in a run. Barrett Smith got a hit in his only at bat and scored with Ryder Gray, Ridge Lewter, Hunter Williams and Remington Davis all getting a base knock.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | R |
| Jackson Parish | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Concordia Parish | 4 | 5 | 6 | x | 16 |
3B – McGrew
RBI – McGrew, Moak, Williams
RS – Anderson, McGrew, Smith
Jackson Parish 17 Vernon Parish 9: A new day brought new life and new results. Jackson Parish opened their first game in the losers bracket by scoring seven runs in the first inning and never looked back to post a team tourney best number of runs. Maddox Graham and Ryder Gray, who both got base hits, scored the first two runs ahead of a Hunter Williams double to get the offensive outburst started. Leland Anderson followed with a home run to add two more. Wyatt McGrew kept things going with a single and scored on Nash Moak’s two bagger. Cruz Nomey then followed with a base hit setting up a two RBI base hit by Remington Davis.
JP7U added another in the second when Grant Williams circled the bases for the teams second round tripper of the contest leading to five runs in the third. Singles by Lewter and Anderson sandwiched Hunter Williams triple, his second extra base hit of the game. Moak and Davis reached on errors setting up Asher Cooper’s triple that brought both home and upped the lead to 13-5. Vernon Parish added two runs in the bottom of the inning but JP7U came right back to score four more on singles by Grant Williams, Lewter, Hunter Williams and Anderson, his fifth straight hit in two games.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | R |
| Jackson Parish | 7 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| Vernon Parish | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
2B – H. Williams, Moak
3B – H. Williams, Cooper
HR – G. Williams, Anderson
RBI – Davis 4, H. Williams 3, Anderson 2, Maddox, Nash
RS – H. Williams 3, Anderson 3, Lewter 2, Moak 2, G. Williams 2, Graham, Gray, Nomey, Davis
Jackson Parish 15 Pineville 3: Once again Jackson Parish stepped out of the dugout stroking to gain sweet revenge and send home the team that eliminated them in district play. Seven straight singles after one out led to six runs as Maddox Graham, Ridge Lewter, Hunter Williams, Leland Anderson, Wyatt McGrew, Nash Moak, Cruz Nomey and Remington Davis all got base hits.
The second inning brought four more runs but this time is it was through three doubles and a triple along with two more base knocks, all after two outs. Gray, Anderson, who stretched his perfection at the plate to seven straight hits over the three games and McGrew all slapped doubles with Hunter Williams stroking a triple for the second straight contest.
More runs came in the fourth after singles by Grant Williams, Maddox Graham, Ryder Gray and Hunter Williams and a three bagger by Ridge Lewter followed by the final two on a single by McGrew and a double by Moak before time was called.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R |
| Jackson Parish | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
| Pineville | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
2B – Gray, Anderson, McGrew, Moak
3B – Lewter, H. Williams,
RBI – Lewter 2, H. Williams 2, McGrew 2, Davis 2, Gray, Anderson
RS – Lewter 3, Graham 2, Gray 2, H. Williams 2, McGrew 2, Anderson, Moak, G. Williams
Gonzales 13 Jackson Parish 3: For the third straight game JP7U came out of the gate hitting on all cylinders with six hits in the first inning, that included a triple and a home run. Then the result of playing six games in three days and three in one took it’s toll as the totally spent team managed only two base hits the rest of the way.
“I wish we could have had a days rest before we played Gonzales,” said JP7U coach Wayne Anderson. “They had a very strong team but I believe that we could have given them a game if we just hadn’t ran out of gas.”
Maddox Graham got a lead off hit for the third straight game and scored with two outs on Hunter Williams third triple in three games. Leland Anderson followed with a home run but the inning came to a close after Wyatt McGrew, Nash Moak, and Cruz Nomey got base hits and were left stranded. To their credit JP7U battled hard the rest of the way but the worn out young men could only manage a Ryder Gray and Moak base hit the rest of the way allowing Gonzales to pull away.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | R |
| Gonzales | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Jackson Parish | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
3B – H. Williams
HR – Anderson
RBI – Anderson 2, H. Williams
RS – Graham, H. Williams, Anderson