Opening Night for the 11-12 Dixie Youth Boys State Tournament
Friday, July 22, 2022
Lasalle Park
Metairie, LA
Jefferson Parish
Written By: Chip Ravaglia, JPRD Roving Reporter

To borrow a line from a song by Meat Loaf, “ Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” Little Farms takes one on the chin while both Girard and Miley had a cakewalk on the opening day of the state tournament. Good Start for JPRD!

The Wheels Came Off the Wagon Early for Winnsboro.
The Miley Cardinals Soar in their Opening game Clawing Winnsboro 12-0.

The Cardinals got things going early by jumping on Winnsboro 3-0 in their half of the first inning. Carter Furman initiated the fire with a lead-off double to right. Cameron Lane followed with a RBI single to right to drive in Furman with the first run of the game. Jordan Farrell walked. From there, Bryson Baxter singled to score Lane. The final run in the frame was the result of a wild pitch to score Baxter.

In the second Winnsboro threatened with runners at second and third and one out. Cameron Lane rose to the occasion and struck out the next two hitters to preserve a 3-0 lead for the Cardinals. In the Cardinals half they had runners at second and third with one out. Unfortunately, the next two hitters were fanned.

The Cardinals began the third with an infield hit by Carter Furman. Next Cameron Lane was issued a base on balls. Grayson Schexnaildre then laced a line drive to the right field wall to plate Furman and Lane. Jordan Farrell then added two more runs with a “Moon Shot” over the center field fence to increase the lead to 7-0. Miley went on to score five more runs to increase their lead to 12-0 after three.

To go along with this Power Surge was a gem of a performance on the hill by Cameron Lane. Cameron shutout Winnsboro and allowed just one hit and one free pass over four innings of play. The Cardinals will move on in the winners bracket to play their cross Parish rivals the Vikings of Girard.

Vikings Smash the Alexandria Aces 23-3
Vikes Total 11 Runs in the First on Five Hits and Five Walks.

The game was over with one swing of the bat. In the first inning, lead off hitter Jace Delatte was issued a base-on-balls. In a blink of an eye, the catcher, Austin Guedry, hammered a towering inferno blast over the right center field fence to put the Vikings up 2-0; they never looked back. Also delivering a big hit was Brennan Stuprich who recorded a stand-up triple after Guedry’s round tripper. Austin additionally smacked a double later in the inning to plate Pitts, Rehage and Delate. Contributions were also turned in by Cooper Couret, Christian Gadola, Coke Schmidt, Kyle Nugent and Cameron Guitterrez.

Next Up for the Vikings are the Miley Cardinals.

The Pirates of Little Farms Walked the Plank Against Ville Platte on Opening Day by a Score of 4-1.
Missed Opportunities was a Contributing Factor in the Loss.

The Pirates squandered a big scoring opportunity in the second inning. Their first three batters reached base but unfortunately they suffered two consecutive strikeouts and the inning ended with a pitcher to first base play for the third out.

Ville Platte broke open the game in the third inning as they sent ten batters to the plate and scored four runs. Their scoring was aided by seven walks issued by the Pirate’s pitching staff.

The lone bright spot for the pirates came in their half of the fourth with two outs as Davis Hebert came to the plate. Davis laced a line drive over the right center field fence to “Touch Them All,” and get the Pirates on the board. The Pirates’ Jacob Schudmak led off the fifth with a double down the left field line. Unfortunately, he was eventually thrown out on a run down. Once again, the Pirates missed another chance to score.

The best defensive play of the night for either squad was executed in the fourth by the Pirates. Ville Platte had a runner on second with two outs. The Pirates center fielder, James Adams, Jr., saved a run by making a great over the shoulder grab of a potential RBI double.

Now the Pirates need to regroup and play and win an elimination game tomorrow.

Good luck to all teams as they continue their journey to a Dixie Youth State Championship!

Chip Ravaglia
JPRD Roving Reporter
It’s not how many times you get knocked down. It’s how many times you get back up!