By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer
There were no late-inning heroics for the Baton Rouge Rougarou Thursday night against the Seguin River Monsters, but that’s because they didn’t need any.
The Rougarou scored three runs in the third inning and three more in the sixth, and held the River Monsters to three hits on the way to a 6-1 win at Pete Goldsby Field.
And while no one was chasing down shortstop Joshua Shelly with a cooler of ice water this time, he still seems to have the hot bat. Wednesday night Shelly drove in the game-tying and winning runs in the bottom of the night for a walk-off 5-4 win over the Victoria Generals. On Thursday Shelly, who hails from Houma, once again came through in the clutch, driving in two runs with a third inning double to break a 1-1 tie and give the Rougarou a 3-1 lead.
Meanwhile, three Rougarou pitchers held the River Monsters to three hits, walked two and struck out 10. Starter Payton Cooper (WP) threw five innings, giving up one hit and Seguin’s lone run in the second inning. He walked two and struck out five. Camden Chalfant and Cowan Alfonso pitched in relief, giving up one hit each and no runs.
“The pitching was very efficient all night by throwing strikes and staying ahead of hitters all night,” Coach Jeff “Rooster” Southall said. “Offensively, we competed in our at-bats and found ways to string some hits together in a few innings.”
Seguin took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a single, a pair of walks and a dropped third strike. But the lead was short-lived.
With one out in the third, Davis Meche singled and went to second on a passed ball. Derrald Moore Jr. then singled to drive in Meche. Moore stole second and went to third on a passed ball before Will Safford walked. That set the stage for Shelly’s 2-RBI double.
In the sixth inning, Jason Hawkins was hit by a pitch to lead things off. Jackson Walker singled. Trevor Durr moved the runners with a grounder, then Hawkins scored on a wild pitch. With Walker at third, Sully Stringer walked and stole second. Meche then hit a grounder to first, which the baseman fielded and threw to home, but Hawkins beat the throw and was safe. Stringer scored as Meche was caught trying to steal second. Moore then grounded out to end the inning.
Baton Rouge finished with six hits off of four Seguin pitchers, who also walked four and struck out eight.
The Rougarou will take Friday night off before heading to Texas to take on Brazos Valley on Saturday and the Victoria Generals on Sunday and Monday. The team will return home to play the Victoria Generals on June 7 and 8.