Bears bounce back Saturday to take twin bill from Pelicans

CHALMETTE, La. – Freshman Owen Ponthieux pitched a 5-inning complete game in the day’s opener, and Isaac Leger’s solo 7th-inning homer won Game 2, as Baton Rouge Community College rebounded from a stinging defeat in Friday’s weekend series opener to win both games of Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader from Nunez Community College by scores of 14-2 and 14-13.

Over the 3-games played, the teams combined for 72 runs, 80 hits, and 19 round-trippers, thanks to a 24-hour stiff, steady, southern gale blowing out toward the centerfield screen at Noel Suarez Stadium, which is only 313 feet from home plate. The Bears got their 42 runs by scoring 14 in each game.

GAME 1 – BATON ROUGE 14 NUNEZ 2 (5 innings)

BRCC opened the scoring in the first inning, with one run on a single and double, and then added 4 more in the second on a walk, hit-batter, and back-to-back homers from Tanner Hornback and Collin Dupre, who went deep 4 times on the weekend.

The visitors stretched it to 10-0 with 5 more in the third on bases-loaded walk after an infield error and 2 hit-by-pitches, followed by a sacrifice fly and Dupre’s second homer, a 3-run clout.

After the Pelicans got solo homers from Alex Roux in the third and Cohen Veron in the fourth for their only runs of the contest, the Bears hung 4 more on the scoreboard in unearned fashion in the fifth on a single, 2-out infield error, and then 3 more singles, with the last tally racing home on an attempted pick-off at first.

Ponthieux struck out 8 and gave up just 4 hits over his 5 innings of work, For Nunez, Ira Austin started on the hill and was followed by Owen Forbes, Charlie Guidry, and Casey Bryant.

The game was called after 5 innings due to the 10-run rule.

Score By innings – Sat 4/27 Game 1
BRCC – 145 04x x – 14 10 0
Nunez – 001 10x x – 2 4 3
Game called after 5 innings, 10-run rule.
Ponthieux and Fontenot. Austin,
Forbes (3), Guidry (3), Bryant (5) and Rohlfs.
W- Ponthieux. L – Austin.
2B – Richard, Jackson. HR – Hornback,
Alx Roux, Veron, Dupre 2. SF – Hornback.

With today’s game one victory over the Nunez Pelicans Head Coach Thomas Simoneaux reached a milestone with his 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career win as the skipper of the Bears.#burntheboats pic.twitter.com/p1pKrq84H6

— BRCC Bears ⚾️ (@BRCC_Baseball) April 27, 2024

GAME 2 – BATON ROUGE 14 NUNEZ 13 (7 innings)

So after the Bears again opened the scoring in the top of the first on a single and double for a 1-0 lead, the Pels responded in noisy fashion, plating 8 in the bottom half, getting their first three as Dorien Jackson led off with a double, and after a walk to Ben Harris, Noah Detillier singled in Jackson, with Collin Cure then following with a double and Veron with a single.

After a strikeout and pop-out, Roux smashed his second homer of the day to put his team up 6-1, with the inning next continuing on a single from James Bendeck and Jackson’s line shot over the centerfield screen to make the score 8-1.

Baton Rouge then cut it to 8-5 in the top of the third with Braden McLin’s 2-out grand slam that followed a single and 2 walks.

After Roux gave the Pels a 4-run lead in the bottom half on his third dinger of the day, all to the same place in straightaway center, the Bears to cut it to one with 3 runs in the top of the fourth on Braden Corkern’s solo homer that was followed by 2 singles, a wild pitch, and a 2-out, 2-run throwing error on an infield grounder that should have ended the inning.

Now up only 9-8, Nunez plated four in the bottom of the fourth on a double by Harris and single by Detillier, which were next followed by a walk and Jayce LaCava’s 3-run shot to center. But that was all the runs the Pelicans would score as BRCC reliever Cade Robin shut out the Pels in their final 3 at-bats.

Meanwhile, the Bears were scoring in each of final 3 innings, starting in the fifth with McLin’s second homer of the game, this one a solo shot to center, and then would tie it at 13-13 in the sixth with a 4-run rally that included 2 walks, hit-by-pitch, a double, and 2 singles. Leger would then led off the seventh with his game-winning homer.

Robin picked up the win for Baton Rouge by lasting the final 6.1 innings and retiring the side in the bottom of the seventh. For Nunez, Kylin Broussard (4.0 IP) got the start and was later relieved by Carson Dearing (2 IP) and Landon Cortez (1 IP).

Score By innings – Sat 4/27 Game 2
BRCC – 104 314 1 – 14 15 0
Nunez – 801 400 0 – 13 12 2
Touchet, Robin (1) and Corkern, Fontenot (7).
Broussard, Dearing (5), Cortez (7) and Veron.
W- Robin. L – Cortez.
2B – Richard, Dupre, Reinholtz, Jackson, Cure,
Harris. HR – Corkern, McLin 2, Leger,
LaCava, Jackson, Alx Roux 2.

SUMMARY:

Jackson and Roux led the Pels offensively for the day, with Jackson going 5-for-7 with 2 RBI’s, and Roux driving in 5 runs on those 3 homers.

For Baton Rouge, Dupre capped off a phenomenal weekend with a 6-for-9 day that included 4 RBI’s and those 2 homers, all that after going 4-for-4 with 2 homers and 3 RBI’s on Friday. McLin chipped in with 6 RBI’s and that pair of dingers, with Hornback also driving in 6 runs for the day.

The Pelicans and Bears end up splitting the season series, with each winning 3 games, and finishing in a tie for second place in the final conference standings. That necessitated a post-game coin flip, which was won by Nunez, to determine seeding for next week’s Region 23 conference tournament.

NEXT UP – CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

The NJCAA Division I Region 23 conference tournament will begin this Thursday, May 2 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium in New Orleans, with Nunez and Baton Rouge joining Delgado Community College in the tourney field, with the Dolphins serving as the host school.

The double-elimination playoff will begin on Thursday with a 3-team round-robin. Actual format and times for each day will be announced early next week.