Baseball State Playoffs: Destrehan outlasts Ouachita Parish in 11 inning thriller to win Class 5A first round game

The dark cloud lingered for Destrehan on a cloudy day at home Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs.

As a higher seed, the Wildcats had been upset in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs for two consecutive seasons and had not scored a run in the two losses.

That changed on this day but it took a dramatic finish for the Wildcats to advance as darkness approached at a stadium without lights.

Nathan Rhodes grounded an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the 11th, scoring TJ Thomas to give No. 10 Destrehan a 3-2 victory over No. 23 Ouachita Parish, ending a terrific pitcher’s dual.

“It was a hit-and-run, I got a fastball in and just turned on it, did my job and just lucky it got through,” Rhodes said.

How did it make Rhodes feel to see the ball get through?

“Words can’t even describe,” Rhodes said. “It feels great.”

Between the two teams, there was just one earned run and eight hits total, seven of which were produced by Destrehan.

“We kept fighting, our guys were frustrated, we were a little disappointed because we knew how well we had played,” Destrehan coach Chris Mire said. “We were right there, so close. We just kept swinging, kept fighting. Eventually, I knew we would find a way.”

The Wildcats (22-9) got it started in the bottom of the first against Ouachita Parish starter Zach Vining on a double by Avery Schexnaydre, a bunt single by Thomas and a sacrifice fly by Max Jacob, scoring Schexnaydre to make it 1-0.

The Lions threatened in the top of the fourth as Dada Jones singled, Cody Wooley walked and Zach Shaw sacrificed them to second and third with one out. Dakota Blackwell popped out to second and Cade Taylor was walked intentionally to load the bases but Josh MacCord struck out Myles Grayson to escape the threat.

Destrehan picked up a run in the bottom of the fifth without a hit against Lions reliever Zach Shaw. Pinch-hitter Riley Cardinal reached on an error, advancing to second on the errant throw. Brock Mire ran for him and after Ahman Morris grounded out, Mire scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Schexnaydre relieved MacCord in the top of the sixth inning and after setting the Lions down in order in the sixth, he hit Grayson with one out in the top of the seventh. Brandon Kimes then reached on a throwing error and with two outs Austin Pennington reached on a throwing error which scored both runs to tie the game.

Thomas came on and struck out Cody Wooley to end the threat.

Shaw and Thomas continued to match scoreless frames until the bottom of the 11th inning. With one out, Thomas started the winning rally with an infield hit before Max Jacob singled. On a hit-and-run, Rhodes then delivered the deciding blow to win it as Thomas scored the winning run.

Thomas had a pair of hits, a stolen base and two runs scored. He pitched four and one-third innings, allowing no runs on no hits. He walked one and struck out eight to pick up the win in relief of MacCord, who pitched five shutout innings, allowing just one hit, using 66 pitches. He walked three and fanned four.

“It means a lot, knowing the past years that we haven’t made it out of the first round and haven’t scored a run,” Thomas said. “It was big to come out and do that on the mound. My last few starts weren’t my greatest. I’ve been struggling so it felt good to dominate.”

Mire gave his pitchers their just due.

“There’s a reason why they’re our three best guys,” Mire said. “We needed all three of them today. Just an incredible job. They executed pitches. It was clutch pitching when we needed it.”

Vining went four innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out three for Ouachita Parish (15-19). Shaw pitched six and one-third innings, allowing the winning run on three hits, all of which came in the 11th inning. He walked one and struck out eight in an outstanding performance despite taking the loss. Jones had the only hit for the Lions, a fourth inning single.

“Both of our pitchers were outstanding,” Ouachita Parish coach Josh Morrison said. “That was our one and two. We actually started our two. He has been getting ground balls all year and has been fantastic for us. We wanted to turn it over to Shaw at the end. He was just as electric. Unfortunately, Destrehan matched us on the mound. They were just as good. We had trouble offensively putting anything together. We’ve played anywhere from six to eight sophomores. That game is huge for us moving forward.”

Destrehan advances to host No. 26 St. Amant in the best-of-three regional round. St. Amant edged No. 7 Lafayette 6-5. The Gators blanked Destrehan 5-0 in the opening round of the 5A playoffs a year ago.

“The monkey is off our back,” Mire said.

Final

Ouachita 000 000 200 00 2 1 2, 9 LOB
Destrehan 100 010 000 01 3 7 3, 7 LOB

WP—TJ Thomas
LP—Zach Shaw
Time of Game: 2:51

SB—Cayle Wheeler, TJ Thomas, Josh Vicknair, Dada Jones

2B—Avery Schexnaydre