It was the classic case of if it could go wrong, it did. As result Weston High School bows out of the 2024 LHSAA Division V state baseball tournament in the semi-finals for the second year in a row, falling to #3 Hicks by a 5-1 score. 

With the loss, the Wolves end the season with a 21-14 mark while Hicks improves to 18-8 and moves on to play Quitman in the state championship game on Friday, May 10th. 

Four times Weston had a runner in scoring position with less than two outs but managed to put just one run on the board. That was in the sixth inning when Drew Browning led off with a double, went to third on Braden Theriot’s single and scored when Colton Blundell hit a ground ball to shortstop. In all, nine runners were left on base and twice hard line shots led to inning ending double plays.

Meanwhile Hicks took advantage of every opportunity they got. Two hits led to two runs in the top of the second inning. Three infield errors by Weston led to two more runs scored, a single run each in both the fourth and fifth innings. A wild pitch led plated Hicks final run of the contest. 

It simply wasn’t the Wolves day. 

Despite the disappointing loss, it doesn’t overshadow the tremendous season the Wolves had. With 21 victories on the year Weston had the second highest total of wins among all teams in their division. The defeat was the first all year to a team from the same division as Weston ended the year having won 11 of 12 games played against Division V opponents. Six times Weston beat a team from either Division I or II in a schedule that saw the Wolves play thirteen teams from the two highest classifications in the state. 

Cole Tolar led the Wolves offensive attach that totaled five hits on the day, with a pair of singles and also reached on the only walk given up by Hicks pitching  Bryce Zehr also chipped in with a double. Tait Henderson was the hard luck loser, allowing only four hits and two earned runs while striking out five in five innings of work.