Westlake can’t hold off Bunkie in 10-9 loss

The Westlake Rams were unable to hold off the Bunkie Panthers in the last inning in a 10-9 loss at the Bee Line Monogram's Southwest Louisiana Shootout at Iowa High School on Saturday evening.
The Rams (3-5-1) battled for a 9-7 lead going into the bottom half, but the Panthers forced Westlake to make mistakes to take the win.
With one out, Bunkie's Caleb Strong drove home two runs to tie the game after an error by the Rams' outfield. Frankie Palmero followed with a bunt attempt and an error by Westlake on the throw allowed the winning run to score for the Panthers.
Of the 10 Panther's runs, only one was earned as Westlake committed eight errors in the game.
"We put a bow on it to gift wrap the game more than I've ever seen since I've been around the game," said Rams' head coach Shane Boudreaux. "I don't know if I've ever been in a game where a team drops five fly balls and gets beat 10-9 and gives up nine unearned runs. It's unacceptable. Not making the routine plays is just a lack of focus and a lack of concentration."
With the score tied 7-7 going into the seventh, the Rams scored two runs on a Justin Foster single to right to take the 9-7 lead.
Foster led the Rams at the plate going 3-for-5 with four RBI's and four stolen bases. Devon Miller added a 2-for-2 effort with a sacrifice bunt and two runs scored.
Dylan West led all Bunkie batters going 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI's.
Westlake finished the tournament with a 0-3-1 record after going 3-0 in their tournament last weekend.
"It was much better competition here," Boudreaux said on the weekend. "We had a two run lead going into the seventh inning twice and we blew them both. It is what it is and we have what we have. We should be 5-4 but instead we are 3-5-1 and it's nobody's fault but ours."

St. Edmund's 7, Westlake 1
LAKE CHARLES–The Westlake Rams fell to the St. Edmund's Blue Jays on Saturday morning in the Bee Line Monogram's Southwest Louisiana Shootout at Legion Field.
The Blue Jays jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back.
Westlake's only run came in the third inning when Tyler Stoddard drove home the run. Stoddard led the Rams (3-4-1) with a 1-for-3 performance.
St. Edmund's added a run in the fifth and two in the sixth to take the 7-1 win.
Kevin McFarlain led the Blue Jays going 2-for-4 with three RBI's and David LaFleur added a 1-for-3 effort with an RBI.

Westlake 6, Bolton 6, 8 innings
LAKE CHARLES–Are there ties in baseball? Apparently so. After eight innings and going well over the two hour time limit, the Westlake Rams and the Bolton Bears were knotted up with a 6-6 score when the game was called at the Bee Line Monogram's Southwest Louisiana Shootout at Legion Field on Friday night.
"We couldn't get a big hit when we needed a big hit," said Westlake head coach Shane Boudreaux. "We let them hang around. We had ample opportunity to get a big hit in a big situation."
Westlake was able to take a 4-2 lead after the first three innings of play and had an opportunity to score more in fifth. The Rams had three runners get on base with one out, but only got one run for a 5-4 lead after five innings. Westlake added another run in the sixth inning when Tyler Stoddard drove home Justin Foster from third for a 6-4 lead.
Rams' starter Johnathon Lamberth battled in the seventh inning to retire the first two Bears' batters in the inning. Ryan Hebert took the first pitch he saw from Lamberth over the left field fence to bring Bolton within a run. After a walk, Grant Debevec ripped a double up the middle to score the tying run.
Lamberth pitched six and two-thirds while allowing four earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Zach Vincent pitched the last inning and a third and didn't allow a runner on base.
"Tonight, pitching was not our problem at all," Boudreaux said. "You can't ask for more than what they gave us tonight. The thing is when you are supposed to score 10-12 runs and you only scratch across six, then those things come back to bite you."
Six Westlake batters each picked up a hit with Stoddard, Devon Miller, Ryan Feagin, and Vincent each having an RBI.
Chris Hattaway (2-for-5, RBI) and Grant Debevec (2-for-4, RBI) led the Bears at the plate with Christian Extine and Hebert each hitting a solo home run for their only hit in the game.