The cheering section from Jackson Parish at St. Julian Park in Broussard, LA, will be significantly larger now. By virtue of their runner-up finish in the District 5 “Coach Pitch” tourney played at the JPRD Sports Complex this past weekend, the JP8U girls All-Stars became the second local team to punch their ticket for state tourney play joined the JP10U team that will also head south for the July 7-10 games.
“I am so proud of everyone of these girls. They have put in hours of hard work and their dedication is inspiring,” said JP8U head coach Kyle Allen. “I know I speak for all the coaches when I say we have been blessed to coach this team.”
Jackson Parish 32 Vivian 21: JP8U opened district play by setting a scoring standard for one team that was never eclipsed in any of the games played in the three All-Star tourneys that was played at the JPRD. The 53 total combined runs also stood supreme after all said and done. Still another tourney mark was set when the two squads combined to score 25 runs in the fourth inning alone.
Caylee Mauthe and Macie Halbrook feasted the most on JP Coach Halee Siddon’s offerings as each reached base in all five at bats and score five and four runs respectively. They weren’t the only ones who took multiple trips around the base paths.
Presley Carpenter, Cadie Conn, Kylee-Ayn Allen, Savannah Porter, Ryleigh Puffer and Carrington Bond all scored three times with Abigail Sullivan crossing home twice. Ella Siddon, Charley Linton, and Miriam Shuler chipped in with a run apiece as all 12 batters joined in the fun.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | TOTAL |
| JP8U | 5 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 32 |
| Vivian | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 21 |
Sterlington 18 Jackson Parish 17: After the highest scoring game of the tourney came one of the most exciting. Nine runs over the last two innings brought Jackson Parish back from a large deficit to tie the game but Sterlington scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to slip past with the win. JP was behind 8-1 after two innings and 12-6 after three but by coming alive for 6 runs in the fifth inning after tallying two in the fourth, the locals trailed by only a 17-14 margin heading into the final frame. Showing their spunk, the locals scored three in the top of the sixth to tie the game setting the stage for Sterlington to win it on three straight hits.
Presley Carpenter scored three runs and reached base in all four at bats as did Abigail “Abby” Sullivan and Kylee-Ayn Allen who added two runs each. Cadie Conn, Charley Linton and Miriam Shuler all got on three times and scored three, two and one run respectively. Caylee Mauthe, Ella Siddon, Miriam Shuler and Ryleigh Puffer scored one each.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TOTAL |
| Jackson Parish | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 17 |
| Sterlington | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 18 |
Jackson Parish 8 Bossier 3: Abigail Sullivan fell just a double short of the cycle as she hit a home run, a triple and a single in three at bats and a scored three times. Presley Carpenter also hit a “round trippler and added a double and a single while scoring twice and and Cayle Mauthe tallied twice as the top of the order did almost all of the damage. Miriam Shuler chipped in with a run as JP8U built an 8-0 lead before Bossier put three on the board in their final at bat. Cadie Conn went 3/3 and Carrington Bond got two hits in her two at bats.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
| Bossier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Jackson Parish | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | x | 8 |
Sterlington 14 Jackson Parish 8: For the second time Sterlington jumped out to a large lead only to see JP make it interesting but like in game one the deficit was to big. Taking some of the sting of losing to the team that JP8U beat twice the week before in a warm up tourney, was the knowledge that even with the loss a trip to the state tournament was in the offering.
Presley Carpenter scored her 9th and 10th runs of the tournament and Miriam Shuler stroked a triple and added a run. Abby Sullivan scored a run and rapped out a pair of singles as did Kylee-Ayn Allen, Carrington Bond and Savannah Porter and Caylee Mauthe. Charley Linton and Ryleigh Puffer both got a hit and scored a run.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
| Jackson Parish | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Sterlington | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | x | 14 |