For the Baton Rouge Rougarou, revenge is a dish best served in the eighth inning.
After trailing the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators from the first inning on, the Rougarou found ways to rally, scoring two runs in the seventh inning and three runs in the eighth to take a 9-8 victory over Lake Charles Saturday night at Pete Goldsby Field.
The Rougarou trailed 8-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning with the top of the lineup coming to bat. Brock Louque led off with a single and went to third on single by J.T. Simonelli. After a pitching change for the Gators, Jacob Keys reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Louque to make it 8-7. Nicolas Schwing, pinch running for Keys, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Jack Marcantel reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Schwing to tie the game at 8-8. Trip Dobson then put the Rougarou ahead with a triple that scored Marcantel.
Closer John Wade then retired the Gators in order in the top of the ninth to seal the win.
A big seventh inning, sparked by a lead off solo home run by Jacob Keys (the first of the season for the team), helped start the Rougarou rally. Marcantel and Dobson were then hit by pitches in succession. A sacrifice by Kenneth Berard moved the runners. Dylan Champagne then grounded out to second to score Marcantel and cut the lead to one. But the Rougarou left two runners stranded and still trailed 7-6.
“The sticks finally came around,” Rougarou coach Mike Forbes said. “It took probably 14 innings to get them going. The big blow from Jacob Keys – we needed somebody to spark us. And hitting’s contagious. All of a sudden, we started getting barrels after barrels. Then Dobson got the big blow with the triple.”
The Rougarou finished with nine hits off of four Gators pitchers. Dobson and William Nikolaus were the only batters with two hits. Keys, Champagne, and Nikolaus had two RBIs apiece. The team also benefited from seven walks and four hit batters.
But the Rougarou pitchers were generous as well, giving up eight hits, six walks and hitting 13. Both teams struck out 11.
Forbes credited catcher Clayton Pourciau for battling behind the plate as the pitchers struggled to find the strike zone.
“He was diving in the batter’s boxes,” Forbes said. “He was the big time MVP of the night.”
The Rougarou and the Gators will face off again Sunday night at 7 p.m. at Goldsby Field.
By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer