By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer
There wasn’t much Powerade left in the Baton Rouge Rougarou’s cooler after 10 innings, but there was enough to dunk it on each other after the team staged an improbable comeback to take a 10-9 over the Seguin River Monsters Friday night at Pete Goldsby Field.
After scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 8-8, the Rougarou spotted Seguin one run in the top of the 10th. But in the bottom of the frame, with Adamo Stornello on second under the international tie-breaker rule, Bank Byers hit a grounder back to the pitcher to move Stornello to third. The River Monsters intentionally walked Josh Shelly, who promptly stole second. Payton Cooper hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field to score Stornello to tie the game at 9-9. Shelly stole third. Finally, Mozell Little III singled up the middle to send Shelly home for the game-winning run.
It was Little’s only hit of the game, but a timely one. And it was Shelly’s only run of the game. Byers had two hits on the night as did Landrey Wilkerson (one was a triple) and Davis Meche.
The Rougarou finished with 10 hits off of four Seguin pitchers.
Baton Rouge needed five pitchers to hold off Seguin. Hunter Ponson got the start and went 5 1-3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits, walking two and striking out two. Newcomer Will Riley entered in the sixth and gave up one run on two hits and walked one. Justin Coats, another newcomer, walked one batter to load the bases in the seventh inning before being relieved by Cowan Alfonso. Alfonso hit the first batter he faced to let Seguin tie the game at 4-4, but got the third out of the inning. Connor Spencer came in to pitch the final two innings, giving up one run on one hit in the top of the tenth and striking out five to pick up the win.
Seguin took their momentum into the eighth inning, scoring four runs on two hits – one of them a 3-run home run by Cardell Thibodeaux that made it 8-4.
But the Rougarou rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a hit batter and an error, followed by singles by Byers and Shelly.
Still trailing 8-6 in the bottom of the ninth, Little walked then Meche reached on an error by the shortstop. The runners advanced on a groundout by Jackson Walker before T.J. Grines singled to drive in both runs to tie the game at 8-8.
The Rougarou travel to play the Acadiana Cane Cutters on Saturday then return home to play them again Sunday and Monday. Seguin returns to Goldsby Field on Monday.