Gritting it out

PINE PRAIRIE -- A long drought has finally ended for the Pine Prairie Panther baseball team.
No Panther club had won a home playoff game since 2008. That was until Tuesday afternoon, when Pine Prairie took a 7-3 lead into the top of the seventh inning and held on in a wild 7-6 win over the Westlake Rams.
With the win the No. 16 seed Panthers improve to 19-11 on the season and will travel to face the No. 1 team in Class 3A, Sterlington, in the regional round of the playoffs.
The regional round is a best two-out-of-three series. Game time and day for the first game of the series had not been set as of press time.
Oddly enough, in that 2008 season, the Panthers were the No. 16 seed and won their first round playoff game, only to travel to Sterlington, who was the No. 1 seed at that time.
“I am so proud of this team,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Jake Guillory after the game. “We fought until the very end. This was the first home playoff win in a long time. Timely hitting won the game for us tonight. We found the gaps when we had to. We took advantage of every opportunity we were given. Let’s go Sterlington.”
The game began with Westlake drawing first blood, as the Rams took the early 1-0 lead after the first half inning of play. Travis Racca scored the run after singling, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and scoring on a base hit from Mark Ashworth.
Undaunted, Pine Prairie answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game up. Kyler Carson singled to lead things off and reached second on a passed ball. JJ Sims drove Carson in with a single to left field.
The Rams moved ahead in the top of the second by scoring their second run of the game. Zac Abshire led off with a single got to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double off of the bat of Ethan Peterson.
The Panthers were held scoreless in the bottom of the second and neither club could come up with a run in the third inning.
However, in the top of the third inning, Westlake’s lead off batter, Racca drew a base on balls, prompting Guillory to go to his bull pen and bring in Jordan Ardoin to replace starter Gage Strother.
“Gage did exactly what was asked of him on the hill tonight,” said Guillory. “I knew the scouting reports that they (Westlake) got was that we had a hard throwing right-hander. So, we decided to start the lefty (Strother) and planned to go the whole game with him. But, once they saw him the first time through their line-up, I decided to bring Jordan in. But, Gage gave us two great innings of work on the hill.”
The turning point of the game came in the fourth inning. After holding the Rams scoreless, Pine Prairie took a commanding 7-2, picking up six big runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Joel Franks started it off with a single to left field and reached second when Cole Thomas was thrown out at first after a passed ball on a strike out. Franks stole third base and came home on a single from Nick Ortego.
A strikeout made it two away with Ortego sitting at first base. Peyton Ledoux was hit by the pitch to reach first base. Gavin Woodham drove home Ortego on a single and moved Ledoux to third base.
The big hits of the inning followed as Carson and Sims both doubled plating three more runs. An error by the Westlake infield with Ardoin at the plate allowed Sims to score the final run of the at bat.
The two teams went scoreless in the fifth inning. The Rams inched closer in the top of the sixth when Ashworth scored on an error by the Pine Prairie defense, cutting the lead to 7-3.
With the Panthers unable to score in the bottom of the sixth, drama ensued in the very next inning.
Westlake made the entire Panther fan base a bit nervous, as they proceeded to score three runs in the top of the seventh. Three base hits in a row was followed by two outs and then two errors, leaving runners at second and third and the score 7-6.
Fortunately, Ardoin was able to induce a pop fly to Ortego in center field to end the game and preserve the win.
Sims led the way at the plate for the Panthers going 3 for 4 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored. Carson was 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
Ardoin picked up the win in relief, throwing four complete innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits, while striking out four and walking one.
Strother worked the first two innings, gave up two earned runs on four hits and walking one.
“This team has shown heart all year long,” commented Guillory. “They have a never-give up mentality about them. No matter what mistakes are made on the field, we always have another guy that will pick them up. They know that their team mates always have their back.”