By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
VILLE PLATTE – There are certain things that you might take for granted when senior right-handed pitcher Briggs Ardoin takes the bump for the Sacred Heart Trojans baseball team.
Standing over six-feet and around 200 pounds, the initial thing to expect when Ardoin is firing a pitch is for it to be overpowering.
Yet when he’s at his best, Ardoin is mixing speeds, throwing strikes and generally keeping hitters off-balance.
That was exactly the case Tuesday afternoon, with Ardoin firing a two-hitter on the way to Sacred Heart beating Pine Prairie 6-1.
Ardoin approached Tuesday’s game with the same calm he did in last season’s playoff win against Ouachita Christian. He was dominant throughout, surrendering only one walk and striking out nine while only throwing 92 total pitches.
His cause was helped by an early 5-0 lead the Trojans built through the first two innings. A Wade Pitre RBI-double opened the tally followed by a Boyce Schexnider two-RBI single that scored Pitre and Bradley Fuselier to give Sacred Heart a 3-0 advantage after one.
It was after the early runs that Ardoin settled in. He allowed a walk and a hit in the first but pitched a flawless game after that, at one point retiring 11 hitters in a row before a Branson Fontenot triple led to Pine Prairie’s lone run in the fifth inning.
Sacred Heart extended its lead in the second inning with a Blake Hebert sacrifice fly scored Everett Johnson and an Ardoin double bringing in Gabe Wilmouth.
Hebert scored on an error in the bottom of the sixth inning to add to the lead.
Wilmouth and Pitre each collected multi-hit games to lead Sacred Beart, both going 2-for-4 with Wilmouth scoring two runs. PIte had an RBI.
Schexnider’s two RBI led the Trojans. Hebert, Ardoin and Pitre each slapped doubles.
Colin Ardoin took the loss for Pine Prairie. The power righty threw three innings and gave up four earned runs, five hits and three walks. He struck out two hitters.
June 19, 2026
