Erath Bobcats finish state runner-up

By Rosco Harrington
 

SULPHUR – The No. 2 Erath Bobcats fell 5-3 to the No.1 Sterlington Panthers Saturday in game three of the championship series to finish the season as Division III Non-Select state runner-up.
 The Bobcats (26-13) fell behind, tied it up, fell behind again, and then fell just short in their final comeback attempt.  Erath head coach Jeremy Picard felt his team played hard, but the baseball gods just weren’t on their side.
“We just got beat today,” Picard said.  “Hats off to Sterlington.  Our guys continued to battle like they did all year long.  They never gave in, and we had a chance to win at the end of the game.  I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
Sterlington got on the board first in the second inning when Connor Justice laced an RBI single to centerfield for a 1-0 lead.  Bobcats’ starting pitcher Talen Landry answered when he sent the second pitch of the third inning over the right field wall.  The solo-shot tied the score at one.
 That score held until the bottom of the fifth inning.  After a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a single loaded the bases with nobody out, Miller Sheets singled to rightfield to drive in two runs and put the Panthers back on top 3-1.  The next batter grounded into a double play, but the run scored to make it 4-1.
 Erath responded in the top of the sixth when Jack Landry drew a bases-loaded walk to pull within one run.  Landen Derouen followed with a groundball to short that the Panthers turned into a double play, but Seth Leger scored on the play to make it 4-3.
Sterlington added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, and Erath went down in order in the seventh inning to end the game.
 Talen Landry led Erath at the plate and on the mound.  The junior hurler pitched five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out two.  Hudson Guidry pitched the final inning, allowing only one hit.
At the dish, Talen Landry had one hit (a homerun), one RBI, and one run scored.  Leger had the only other hit for Erath, while Jack Landry had three walks and an RBI. 
While the game didn’t go the way they had hoped, Erath’s seven seniors raised the bar for Bobcat baseball.  Picard is proud of what they accomplished.
“They’re going to be dearly missed,” Picard said.  “They came in as freshmen to a program that was 11-30 the year before, and they finished with this.  It’s not the end result we wanted, but I’m absolutely proud of them.”