Close but no cigar! Jackson Parish made a good showing in the Dixie Youth District 8 Tournament played in Alexandria on June 23-26 but came up just one game short of qualifying for the state tournament.
After falling to Buckeye 18-3 in the tourney opener this past Friday, JP10U fought back to beat Winnfield 16-0 and Alexandria 16-5 on Saturday. That setup for a rematch with powerful Buckeye for the right to go to the state tournament but once again their central Louisiana foe proved simply to be to strong.
“I am proud of our guys for the way they battled,” said head coach Dusty Tolar. “We had a good team but unfortunately had to face Buckeye twice, who had by far the strongest team in the tourney.”
Caston Zimmerman held the powerful Buckeye offense to just one hit and scoreless for the first three innings. Assisting in the early shutout was a fine defensive play by Aiden Reed who made a fine catch in centerfield and then fired a strike to Mason Tolar on second base who tagged out the runner trying to advance for a double play. Buckeye bats finally came alive in the bottom of the fourth, capitalizing on six hits including a double for 8 runs that virtually ended the contest as JP10U was unable to connect against three Buckeye pitchers who combined to strikeout 14 batters and post a two-hit shutout. Thatcher Savage and Jaxon Culpepper managed the two hits for Jackson Parish with Jackson Ables and Gunner Garrett getting on base via walks.
Shephard Norred led the locals with 5 hits, including a home run, in 7 official at bats for a .714 batting average over the four games while scoring a team leading 6 runs. Savage also had a fine tournament finishing with a .625 batting average, knocking in four runs and scoring four while Zimmerman hit an even .500 with a double, 3 runs scored and a team best 8 RBI. Tolar scored five runs and walked four times, finishing with a .400 average as did Culpepper who had an RBI and scored twice. Reed had an RBI and scored three runs and Burch Gill knocked in a pair of runs. Grant Griffin only had two official plate appearances but walked a team high seven times and scored six runs with Ryder Diffey walking four times, driving in four runs and scored three times. Ables also walked four times and knocked in three while scoring two and Garrett walked three times and scored a run. Jase Tinsley also chipped in with several fine defensive plays.