The Sulphur Tors closed out the Bee Line Monogram’s Southwest Louisiana Shootout with two straight wins including beating the host Sam Houston Broncos on Saturday 2-1 in the final game of the tournament.
After going 1-3 in their own tournament last weekend, the Tors went 3-1 in this week’s tournament to improve to 5-4 overall.
“I think that we are getting better,” Sulphur head coach Ron Riley said. “I think that we are going in the right direction as long as we don’t regress.”
Cade Andrus pitched a complete game for the Tors while holding the 2009 Class 4A runner-up Broncos to four hits and one run. Andrus struck out six and hit two batters.
“Cade is a guy that we want out there,” Riley said. “He has a lot of guts and he wants the ball.
“I knew it would take that kind of guy to go against them (Sam Houston) because they are a good ball club. I thought defensively we played real well. We never got into any trouble and I thought we had some timely hitting.”
Andrus got into a bind in the bottom of the sixth inning after hitting Cody Rider with a pitch and giving up a single to Andrew Guilotte with no outs.
Sam Houston’s hard hitting third baseman Evan Powell came to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Rider. But Andrus got back to work and sent the next two Broncos back to the dugout on strikeouts to preserve the Tors’ 2-1 lead.
Sulphur backed Andrus up with some solid defensive play including an inning ending double play in the first inning and just one error in the game.
Sulphur looked like they would break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning after back-to-back singles by Kendall Daigle and Chad Miller with two outs but Dylan Champagne got Stefan Trosclair to fly out to second to end the threat.
The Tors rallied again with two outs in the top of the third inning and picked up a run to take the lead.
Phillip Boyette hit a two-out double to right field and Garrett McCain followed with a grounder between first and second base for an RBI single and score Boyette.
Josh East led off the four inning with a deep fly ball to left center field that neither Sam Houston’s left for center fielder could get a hold of. After East’s double Champagne walked Miller with one out.
On the next play Trosclair hit a ground ball to shortstop for what looked like a double play. Miller was out at second but Sam Houston second baseman Guilotte throw to first was off allowing East to score on the error and give Sulphur a 2-0 lead.
“We hit the ball harder tonight than we hit it all year,” Riley said. “Hopefully that is a good sign.”
Champagne took the loss allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six.
The Tors will return to action on Tuesday with a 5:30 p.m. home game against Iowa.
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The Sulphur Tors closed out the Bee Line Monogram’s Southwest Louisiana Shootout with two straight wins including beating the host Sam Houston Broncos on Saturday 2-1 in the final game of the tournament.
After going 1-3 in their own tournament last weekend, the Tors went 3-1 in this week’s tournament to improve to 5-4 overall.
“I think that we are getting better,” Sulphur head coach Ron Riley said. “I think that we are going in the right direction as long as we don’t regress.”
Cade Andrus pitched a complete game for the Tors while holding the 2009 Class 4A runner-up Broncos to four hits and one run. Andrus struck out six and hit two batters.
“Cade is a guy that we want out there,” Riley said. “He has a lot of guts and he wants the ball.
“I knew it would take that kind of guy to go against them (Sam Houston) because they are a good ball club. I thought defensively we played real well. We never got into any trouble and I thought we had some timely hitting.”
Andrus got into a bind in the bottom of the sixth inning after hitting Cody Rider with a pitch and giving up a single to Andrew Guilotte with no outs.
Sam Houston’s hard hitting third baseman Evan Powell came to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Rider. But Andrus got back to work and sent the next two Broncos back to the dugout on strikeouts to preserve the Tors’ 2-1 lead.
Sulphur backed Andrus up with some solid defensive play including an inning ending double play in the first inning and just one error in the game.
Sulphur looked like they would break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning after back-to-back singles by Kendall Daigle and Chad Miller with two outs but Dylan Champagne got Stefan Trosclair to fly out to second to end the threat.
The Tors rallied again with two outs in the top of the third inning and picked up a run to take the lead.
Phillip Boyette hit a two-out double to right field and Garrett McCain followed with a grounder between first and second base for an RBI single and score Boyette.
Josh East led off the four inning with a deep fly ball to left center field that neither Sam Houston’s left for center fielder could get a hold of. After East’s double Champagne walked Miller with one out.
On the next play Trosclair hit a ground ball to shortstop for what looked like a double play. Miller was out at second but Sam Houston second baseman Guilotte throw to first was off allowing East to score on the error and give Sulphur a 2-0 lead.
“We hit the ball harder tonight than we hit it all year,” Riley said. “Hopefully that is a good sign.”
Champagne took the loss allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six.
The Tors will return to action on Tuesday with a 5:30 p.m. home game against Iowa.
Sulphur 3, Notre Dame 2
IOWA-The Sulphur Tors battled in the last two innings to come away with a 3-2 win over 2009 Class 3A semifinalist Notre Dame on Saturday at the Bee Line Monogram's Southwest Louisiana Shootout at Iowa High School.
The Tors were held to just two hits in the first five innings, but struck for three in the last two innings that led to the three runs needed to pick up the win over the Pioneers.
Sulphur tied the game 1-1 in the sixth inning when Garrett McCain launched a ball into left field for a hit to score Josh East. After the Pios' left fielder misplayed the ball, McCain took second and attempted to get third, but was thrown out after sliding over the bag.
Notre Dame regained the lead in the bottom half of the sixth when pinch hitter C. Gross hit a double to right to score a man from second for a 2-1 lead going into the seventh.
Stephen Pennick led off the seventh with a double to left for Sulphur and scored on a single by Brooks Morse. After an intentional walk to Austin Shepherd, Phillip Boyette hit a grounder to the shortstop to score Stefan Trosclair for the winning run. Brennum Conway pitched the seventh inning and shutout the Pios for the save.
The Tors were led by Pennick's double (1-for-3, run) and a double by Loren Saucier (1-for-3).
St. Louis 7, Tors 6, 8 innings
LAKE CHARLES-A valiant pitching performance by the Sulphur Tors' Stephen Pennick kept the Tors in the game, but the St. Louis Saints picked up four infield hits in the eighth inning to take the 7-6 win on Friday night at the Bee Line Monogram's Southwest Louisiana Shootout at Legion Field.
The right-handed starter for the Tors went five innings while allowing six hits and one earned run with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Sulphur rallied in the sixth inning to score three runs to tie the game 6-6. Loren Saucier came into the game in relief and was able to hold the St. Louis bats quiet in the sixth and seventh innings to send the game into an extra frame.
The Saints played small ball in the eighth inning after Charlie Yorks led it off with a double down the third baseline. Ty Griffen and Lucas Leger followed with bunt singles to load the bases for St. Louis. Saucier struck out the next batter, but Zack Lecombe came through for the Saints putting the ball in play to bring home Yorks to end the game.
Pennick retired the Saints in order in the first inning, but St. Louis was able to capitalize on a defensive mistake by the Tors to push two runners across for the 2-0 lead after two innings.
Sulphur left five runners stranded in the first three innings, but the fourth inning is where the Tors had their best opportunity of the game to score runs. The Tors loaded the bases with no outs, but scored just two runs. Chad Miller scored on a walk issued to Austin Shepherd and Stefan Trosclair scored on one of two errors made by St. Louis' third baseman Griffen in the inning.
The Saints' starter Anthony Ferrer struck out the side after giving up the two runs to end the Sulphur chance.
The Saints capitalized on their opportunity in the fifth inning scoring four runs on four hits with the help of two Sulphur errors.
Saucier took the loss for Sulphur while giving up one run on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
Cory Bono picked up the win for the Saints pitching three innings in relief while allowing just one run on one hit with three strikeouts and one walk.
Yorks led the Saints with a 3-for-4 effort with three doubles and Lecombe added a 2-for-3 performance with a double, two RBI's, and a run scored.
Brooks Morse (2-for-3, run) and Garrett McCain (2-for-5, 2 runs) were the only Sulphur hitters with more than one hit.
