Mamou earns much needed split; go 1-1 with Crowley Gents

MAMOU -- If any team was looking for a much needed win this baseball season, it was the Mamou Green Demons.
Over the past 10 games, the Demons were 3-7, including a tough 8-7 loss to the Crowley Gents on Tuesday afternoon. And, to make matters worse, four of those seven losses were by a meager one run.
However, the Demons turned all of that around on Thursday, as they knocked down the Gents at home by a 9-4 score.
With the split this past week, Mamou moves to 11-14 on the year and 3-5 in District 5-3A play. The Demons were scheduled to host the Eunice Bobcats on Friday and then travel to Eunice Tuesday to continue league play.
“This was a much needed win for us,” stated Mamou head coach Greg Fontenot after the game. “We haven’t had our full line-up in about three or four weeks due to injuries. Tonight was the first night for us to have our full line-up back in their correct positions and I am just glad to have everyone back and to get back into the win column.”
One of the main reasons for the win over the Gents on Thursday was the outstanding performance of Devin Boone on the hill. Boone went six and one-third innings, allowing three runs on six hits, while striking out one and walking three.
“Devin really did not have his curve ball today, but did a tremendous job of locating his fastball and his change-up,” said Fontenot. “But, I would have to also give props to the defense. I think Devin only struck out one batter, so they had to support him in the field.”
Despite the nine runs scored by the Demons, it was the Gents that actually got on the board first when Daniel Harmon blasted a solo home run over the center field fence. Mamou could not produce any runs in the bottom of the first, nor could either team light up the board in the second inning.
Boone and the Demon defense did their job in the top of the third inning by not allowing the Gents to add to their lead. But, in the bottom half of the inning, Mamou exploded for five big runs.
Tanner Atchinson secured a one-out walk and reached second on an error by the catcher. Kayden Serie doubled to deep center field, scoring Atchinson.
Daylon Ardoin walked and after a pop-up to the second baseman for the second out, Blake Boone was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the bases juiced, Tucker Rougeau drove a 1-2 fastball over the left field fence for a grand slam home run and put the Demons up 5-1.
Mamou shut down the Gents in the top of the fourth and then proceeded to add to their lead in the bottom half of the inning by tacking on three more runs.
Zack Morein led off by doubling to left-center field. Gavin Pommier walked to put runners at first and second with no outs. An error by the Crowley defense with Atchinson at the plate loaded the bases once again.
A sacrifice fly off of the bat of Serie allowed Morein to cross home plate. A single from Daylon Ardoin drove Pommier home. Mason Reed sent a ground ball to third base, retiring Atchinson for the second out, but moved Ardoin to second base. Ardoin stole third base and scored on a wild pitch to put the Demons up 8-1.
Mamou put up another run in the bottom of the sixth and then went to work on defense. The Gents came to bat in the top of the seventh looking to at least tie the game up.
With Boone beginning to tire, Crowley was able to chase him from the game and get three runs across before Rougeau came in relief and retired the side.
This game was a total contrast of Tuesday’s contest in Crowley. In that game, the Demons jumped out to a big 4-0 lead after their very first at bat, behind two big doubles from Morein and Devin Boone and a RBI single off of the bat of Pommier.
Never-the-less, the Gents slowly chipped away at the lead, plating three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first and three additional runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Down 6-4 heading into the top of the seventh, Mamou found a fleeting sense of euphoria, as they were able to get the bats going again enough to pick up three more runs and take a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the last inning.
Unfortunately, the Demons could not hold on, as the Gents secured the necessary two more runs to sneak past Mamou and complete the win.