By virtue of winning two of the four games played , the Jackson Parish 7U boys All-Star team took third place finish in the seven team, Dixie Youth Baseball District 8 All-Star “Coach Pitch” tournament in Pineville that was played on June 14-18. ay evening.
Under the tutelage of head coach Nick Sampey and assistants Raimey Hall, Keith Johnson, Brittany Samey and Taylor Mathews, the locals lost their first game to the Alexandria All-Stars before storming back to take two straight wins over Winn Parish and host Pineville. JP7U then lost to tournament champion Jena.
“I was really pleased with the way our guys played” said Sampey. “After seeing all the teams play, I believe we have one of the top two teams here. We lost the first one but we had the better team. Not making excuses, but it was the first time ever the guys have been on this stage and it took a little while for them to settle in. We showed what we could do the next two.”
JP7U hit a collective .648 as a team with 81 hits, including 12 that went for extra bases, that amounted to a total of 43 runs over the four games for an average of 10.75 runs per game.
Alexandria 16 JP7U 11 – Falling behind 6-3 and 8-5 over the first three innings, JP7U rattled off six runs in the top of the fourth to take a an 11-8 lead but Alexandria plated 8 over the last two frames to secure the victory.
The locals pounded out 17 hits over the five innings with 11 of the 12 batters reaching base. Rowan Sampey led the way with three hits followed by Uriah Hall, Kaden Blewer, D.J. Hudson and Kase Mathews with two hits each. Also chipping in with a hit was Luke Turner, Reed McMillan, Samuel Jones, Emmett Thomas, Lucas Womack and Matthew Buchan.
Down by three, Jones and Thomas got the rally started in the fourth with back to back singles followed by Buchan plating them both with a double. Hudson kept the momentum going with a single setting up a Mathews double that gave the locals their first lead of the tournament at 9-8. Uriah Hall then stroked a single to bring up Sampey, who smacked the third double of the inning to score two more.
JP7U 17 Winn Parish 13 – Unlike the first contest, JP7U never trailed in this one. The locals were scorching at the plate, churning out an incredible 31 hits over the six innings, including six that went for extra bases.
Jackson Parish opened by plating five runs in the top of the first inning and adding 3 more in the third. Holding on to a slim 8-7 lead, the locals put the game away with a seven spot in the top of the fifth.
Matthew Buchan led the hit parade by going 4/4 that included a home run and a triple, scoring four runs and driving in two more. Luke Turner and Kaden Blewer, who added a triple, also got four hits and drove in a run while scoring three and two runs respectively.
Three more had three hits in the contest in Reed McMillan (3 RBI, 3 Runs), Samuel Jones (2RBI, 2 Runs) and Uriah Hall. Collecting two hits each were Emmett Thomas (3RBI), Kase Mathews (2 Runs, RBI), Oliver Lee (RBI, Run), D.J. Hudson (RBI, Run) and Rowan Sampey (RBI).
JP7U 14 Pineville 10 – With the scored tied a 8-8 after three innings, Jackson Parish tacked on three more in both the fourth and fifth frame to take the victory. Once again JP7U hit the ball well as eight players had at least two of the 24 hits the team collected.
D.J. Hudson (3RBI, 2 Runs) was one of five who got three hits. Oliver Lee (3RBI), Reed McMillan (2 Runs), Kaden Blewer (RBI, Run) and Rowan Sampey (RBI, Run) also had tri-fectas.
Kase Mathews (2 Runs, RBI), Luke Turner (Run), and Matthew Buchan (2RB) chipped in with two hits while Uriah Hall (Run), Samuel Jones (RBI) and Emmett Thomas (RBI, Run) added a single each.
Jena 14 JP7U 0 – Matthew Buchan and Rowen Sampey got two hits each but JP7U was unable to punch any runs across resulting in a loss to tournament champion Jena. Uriah Hall added a double while Kase Mathews, Lucas Womack, Luke Turner and D.J. Hudson, who went 8/8 in the tourney, chipped in with a hit each.