Jackson Parish beat Mamou Gold 7-6 in their opening game of the Dixie Youth 10U baseball North Regional Tournament played in Alexandria on Saturday before dropping a 10-0 decision to Ruston in the nightcap. 

The loss sends JP10U into the elimination side of the eight team, double elimination bracket where they will play again at 9:00 am on Sunday, July 7th. The locals will face Rayville, who lost their first game 11-1 to Girard and then beat Loranger 5-0 to stay alive. 

Jackson Parish 7 Mamou Gold 6: Joining the team after the District 8 Tournament, Bentley Ponder proved to be a valuable addition as his play on both offense and defense late in the game was key in the hard fought victory. Ponder stroked a clutch, two-out single in the top of the fifth inning to give Jackson Parish a 7-5 lead and then came in to slam the door on a Mamou rally in the bottom of the sixth and final frame by getting the last two batters out and leaving they runner who represented the tying run stranded in scoring position. 

JP10U got out to an early lead in the top of the second inning when after starting pitcher Braddock Chandler struck out the side, the locals scored three runs after two outs by virtue of keen eyes at the plate and nifty base running. Kutter Blalock and got the scoring started by drawing a walk, stealing second and third base and then crossed home plate on a passed ball to give JP10U a 1-0 lead. Koplen Taylor then walked with two outs and followed the virtually the same script by stealing second, taking third and scoring on another passed ball. Following the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” theory, Caleb Robinson coaxed yet another walk by Mamou pitching and then stole second and third base. That set up Asher Norred smashing a sharp single through the right side of the infield to up the lead to 3-0. Mamou closed the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third after first two batters singled prompting JP10U head coach to bring Brock Craighead in to pitch, who got three straight batters out, two by strikeout to end the inning. JP10U went up 5-2 in the top of the fourth. Craighead singled and Chandler doubled to put runners in scoring position with two out setting up a grounder by Taylor that scored two when the throw to third base by the shortstop got away.  Mamou tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth when after three straight singles narrowed the margin to 5-3, the fourth single of the inning, this one with two outs, scored the other two. Undaunted, JP10U came right back to retake the lead at 7-5 in the see-saw affair in the top of the fifth. Robinson singled to right field to get the decisive inning starter and went to third after both Norred and Jase Tinsely drew walks, setting up Ponder’s clutch two out single. Thatcher Savage was summoned to the mound to relieve Craighead in the bottom of the fifth and promptly struck out the side before running into trouble early in the sixth and final Mamou at bat, setting the stage for Ponder to come in and save the game. Jackson Parish and Mamou both got 9 hits in the contest but JP10U had a big 8-1 advantage in the stolen base department led by 4 swipes by Robinson and 2 by Blalock. Taylor and Norred also took a base. 

Ruston 10 Jackson Parish 0: Bentley Ponder singled to open the game but that was the only hit allowed by the two Ruston pitchers in the four inning, “ten run” rule, loss. Conversely, Ruston scored in every inning as they pounded out 9 hits, including a pair of doubles and two triples, and took advantage of 7 walks to win going away.