Sizing them up

VILLE PLATTE -- Getting to see your possible playoffs opponents during the regular season gives teams a chance to get a little bit of early scouting done.
And, that is just what the Sacred Heart Trojans were able to do, as they hosted the University Academy Lions on Monday and district foe False River on Tuesday.
Both of those teams will be in the Division IV postseason mix come playoff time and may just face the Trojans once those games begin in earnest.
The good news for Sacred Heart is that they were able to take care of business against both clubs, taking down University 5-1 and holding on against the Gators for a 12-9 victory.
With the two wins, the Trojans are now 14-6-1 on the year and 1-0 in district play. Sacred Heart will travel to New Roads to take on Catholic of Pointe Coupee on Saturday in another league showdown. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
On Monday, it was the steady, solid pitching of Cody Shipp and the RBI producing at bats of Alec Gotro that helped guide the Trojans to the win over University Academy.
Shipp threw a complete game, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out nine and walking three.
Meanwhile, Gotro was two of three at the plate with a double and a two-run blast over the center field wall. Gotro was good for three RBI’s and a run scored.
After getting the Lions to go down in order in the top of the first, Sacred Heart struck first on offense. JT Harper got on with an error to lead off the bottom of the first.
Harper moved to second base on a ground out fielder’s choice. A strike out that got away from the Lion catcher sent Harper down to third, where he scored on a balk to give the Trojans the early, 1-0, lead.
Sacred Heart would add another run in the bottom of the second inning. A one out base hit by Cannon Beaver put the Trojans in business.
Nick Perry drew a walk and both players moved up a base on a steal. Drew Bordelon hit a ball to the right side of the field, and even though he was thrown out at first, he was able to plate Beaver to push the lead to 2-0.
The third inning saw the Trojans push the advantage to 4-0, when Garrett Fontenot was hit by a pitch and scored on the home run from Gotro.
University managed to pick up their lone run in the top of the fourth, but could not muster much more offense, as Shipp was able to shut down the Lions the rest of the way.
Sacred Heart’s final run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Harper got on with a one out double down the left field line. After a line drive out to center field, Gotro blasted a double to deep center field, scoring Harper.
Thursday’s game against False River turned out to be a wild one as the Trojans took a 12-4 lead into the top of the seventh inning and had to hold off a late charge form the Gators to pull out the win.
False River got on the board first, plating two runs in their very first at bat of the game. Sacred Heart would answer by tying the game up at 2-2 in the bottom of the first.
Harper doubled to lead things off and moved to third on a base hit from Gotro with one out. On the single, a heads up Gotro made it all the way to second base when no one from False River was there to cover the bag.
Both Harper and Gotro touched home plate on the very next at bat, as Christian Duplechin was able to single back up the middle.
After holding the Gators scoreless in the top of the second, the Trojans put up three more runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Sacred Heart added a run in the bottom of the third inning. Cannon Beaver singled and reached second base on a sacrifice bunt from Nick Perry. A ground out followed, moving Beaver to third.
Jacob Castille walked to put runners at first and third with two outs. Harper then delivered, doubling into left field, his second double of the day, plating Beaver.
False River cut into the 6-1 Trojan lead by tacking on two runs of their own in the top of the fourth inning.
The two teams went scoreless in the fifth inning, before Sacred Heart opened up their advantage to 12-3 by scoring six more runs.
Cade Manuel led things off with a single to center field. After stealing second base, Manuel reached home on a double by Beaver. Perry reached first on an error, pushing Beaver to third base.
Bordelon singled home Beaver and was able to get Perry down to third base. Castille loaded the bases on a single of his own.
An error by the Gator defense with Harper at the plate scored Perry and Bordelon and got Castille to second. Fontenot followed with a single, to load the bases once again.
After a strike out, Duplechin picked up Castille and Harper for the final two runs.
False River did make a big run at the Trojans in the top of the seventh inning. The Gators, with the top of their line-up starting things off, picked up three base hits in a row. With one out, back-to-back-to-back singles followed, allowing five runs in total to reach home plate.
Sacred Heart closed out the game by retiring the next two batters.