Pine Prairie exits playoffs with loss to Sterlington

STERLINGTON -- In the long run it was a very fruitful year for the Pine Prairie Panther baseball team.
This season the Panthers finished with an overall record of 19-13, played above .500 baseball in District 5-3A and accomplished something that they had done since 2008: make it to the second round of the LHSAA playoffs.
Unfortunately, Pine Prairie’s season came to an abrupt end last weekend as they fell to the No. 1 seeded Sterlington Panthers twice in their best two-out-of-three regional playoff series.
In both games, the Panthers were not able to produce much offense, especially when the opportunity to score runs presented itself, as they dropped a 3-0 and a 6-0 decision to Sterlington.
“In game one, we made some crucial mistakes that cost us a couple of runs,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Jake Guillory. “If it were not for that, it may have been a different outcome. But, all weekend we just did not get the big hit when we had chances to put runs on the board. It is not that we struck out a lot, it is just that we hit it right at their gloves.”
The first game of the series was definitely a nail biter with Sterlington being able to pick up the runs when necessary and Pine Prairie stranding runners in scoring position the first two innings of play.
Pine Prairie got an early chance to make some noise in the top of the first when Jordan Ardoin belted a two out double to right-center field and moved to third on a passed ball. However, a strikeout ended the at bat and left the Panthers with no runs to show for the effort.
In the bottom half of the first inning, Sterlington produced the initial run of the game on a two out solo home run over the center field wall.
Pine Prairie made another run at getting on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning. With one out Nick Ortego was hit by the pitch to reach first base.
BJ Ardoin induced a walk to put runners at first and second. A fielder’s choice off of the bat of Peyton Ledoux pushed Ortego to third, but resulted in Ardoin being put out at second base for the second out of the inning. But, once again, the threat was dismissed, this time on a fly ball to second base.
Sterlington’s final two runs of the game came in the bottom of the third inning. A base hit, a stolen base and two costly errors produced enough runs to give the Ouachita Parish Panthers the win.
“After the first game, our players were actually more confident than before the game,” said Guillory. “They began to believe that they could beat the No. 1 team. It hit them that they could play with these guys.”
Despite the new found confidence, Pine Prairie still had to come out on the field and produce in game two . Needless to say, the offense could not get it going in the crucial re-match.
After holding Sterlington scoreless in the top of the first inning, the Panthers looked as if they were ready to pick up the pace at the plate. Kyler Carson singled to lead things off, but was caught attempting to steal second base. A strike out and a fly ball to center field ended the inning for the Panthers.
Neither team was able to produce any runs what-so-ever in the next two at bats. However, Sterlington came through in the top of the fourth, plating three big runs. Two errors, a walk and two base hits were enough to give Sterlington the early lead.
Pine Prairie did manage to get a runner to second base in the bottom of the fourth when Jordan Ardoin reached second on an error and took third base on a passed ball. Nevertheless, the Panthers continued to struggle with runners in scoring position and came up empty handed once again.
Sterlington added a single run in the top of the fifth and two more runs in the top of the seventh to round out the scoring in the game.
Pine Prairie did manage to put another runner at second in the bottom of the seventh, but to no avail they could not score.
“I just want to thank everyone that helped us get to this point,” commented Guillory. “I especially want to thank my assistant coaches. They were the backbone of our success this season. Also, the fans and community were tremendous in their support of this club.”