NEW ROADS -- The Sacred Heart Trojans knew they needed to pick up some wins before the final power ranking came out on Saturday, and they did that in true Trojan fashion by finishing out the season on a three game win streak.
During that streak Sacred Heart secured a doubleheader win over the Ville Platte Bulldogs on Wednesday by the final scores of 13-3 and 13-1. Then on Friday, the Trojans slipped past the Catholic of Point Coupee Hornets 12-10 in the last district game of the year.
With those three wins, Sacred Heart improved to 19-7-1 on the year and 3-1 in District 5-1A. The Trojans finish as the unofficial No. 5 ranked team in Division IV and would play No. 12 University Academy of La. based out of Alexandria in their first playoff game if those rankings hold true when the official bracket comes out today.
In game one against Ville Platte on Wednesday, Sacred Heart jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings of play by scoring one run in the first and four runs in the second.
The third inning saw the Trojans add three more runs to their total. Ville Platte made a charge in the bottom half of the inning by plating three runs of their own to cut the lead to 8-3.
However, Sacred Heart continued to put up crooked numbers the rest of the game. The Trojans tacked on two more runs in the fourth and three more runs in the fifth to finish the run-rule win.
In game two, the bulk of the scoring did not come until the fourth inning. Sacred Heart took an early 2-0 lead after two inning of play. But, the Bulldogs shaved that lead down to one in the bottom of the third when Daegan Mitchell doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Alex Griffith.
The Trojans busted the game open in the top of the fourth by plating seven runs. Sacred Heart capped off the win in the top of the fifth as they added four runs to their total.
Friday’s game against the Hornets was a wild one for the Trojans. Sacred Heart took the 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but Catholic answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Undeterred, the Trojans pasted a huge number in the top of the third, plating a whopping eight runs of their own to take a 9-5 lead.
The Hornets proceeded to add a single run in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to pull even with Sacred Heart. The next two innings proved to be the deciding factor in the game.
In the top of the sixth, the Trojans put up a single run to take over the lead once more. With two outs, Garrett Fontenot singled to left-center field.
A balk moved Fontenot into scoring position. A single off of the bat of Cade Manuel was good enough to push Fontenot across the plate. Manuel reached third on two stolen bases, but stalled there when the Trojan offense stalled as well.
After holding Catholic scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Sacred Heart went hunting for some insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Garrett Fontenot led off the inning with a double into left field. A passed ball moved him up one bag to third. Wesley Launey drew the walk and stole second base, putting two runners in optimum scoring position.
An error allowed Fontenot to score and put Launey at third base. A deep fly ball off of the bat of JT Harper gave Launey the opportunity to tag up and score the second and final run of the inning.
The Hornets tried to muster a comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh, scoring one run. But, the Trojan pitching and defense came through and shut down Catholic’s offense before it could get going.
Manuel led all Trojans at the plate going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. F
Fontenot was 2-for-5 with two doubles and a run scored.
Gabe Fontenot finished the game on the hill for the Trojans.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX