The Bossier City All-Stars finished third in the Little League Baseball state tournament after falling to Eastbank of New Orleans 11-8 Tuesday night at Clifford Almond Park.
Eastbank faces defending champion South Lake Charles Wednesday night at 7 in Game 1 of the championship round. Eastbank must defeat South Lake Charles to force a second and decisive game Thursday night for the title.
Bossier City trailed 7-3 after three innings, but the local squad rallied in the top of the fourth with five runs to take an 8-7 lead. Eastbank regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning and added two more in the fifth.
Bossier City’s Gabriel Larry and Connor Norcross both hit home runs. Larry had two other hits including a double, according to the team’s GameChanger site. Hayden Knotts also had a double.
Grayson Hull, Harrison Waxley, Coleman Stafford and Micky Parks all had hits.
Bossier City opened the tournament Friday with a 12-0 victory over Jackson Parish. The local team then fell to South Lake Charles 3-1 Saturday in the winners’ bracket semifinals. BC bounced back with a 7-2 victory over Lafayette Sunday in its first elimination game and then knocked off Avoyelles 10-2 on Monday.
Knotts and Grayson Gates combined on a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts in the victory over Jackson Parish. Waxley went 2-for-2 with a home run, triple and three RBI.
Larry, Brady Norcross and Knotts had two hits each.
Connor Norcross, Hull, Hayden Smith and Gavin Ashworth all had one hit.
Bossier City outhit South Lake Charles in a well-pitched game by both teams. BC had some chances in the late innings with runners on base but couldn’t capitalize. Meanwhile, SLC took advantage of some mistakes to score two runs in the fifth, breaking a 1-1 tie.
Connor Norcross had two hits, including a home run. Hull also had two hits. Waxley, Knotts and Parks had one hit each.
Knotts allowed just two hits and no runs in 4 1/3 innings against Lafayette. He struck out four. He also went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and had three RBI. Gates and Waxley had one hit each.
Hull and Larry had solo home runs in the first inning against Avoyelles. Hull finished with three hits, including a double. Larry also had a triple. Knotts and Connor Norcross had doubles.
Brady Norcross, Gates, Parks and Ashworth all had hits. Ashur Hall scored a run.
Elsewhere, the Bossier City All-Stars finished runner-up in the Dixie Youth AAA (10-year-olds) South Regional tournament in Ponchatoula.
BC rallied from a seven-run deficit against Ville Platte in the championship game Tuesday night, scoring seven in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 12. But Ville Platte answered with five in the bottom of the inning and went on to win 17-13.
Bossier City opened the tournament with a 14-0 victory over the Franklinton Americans before falling to Ville Platte in the winners’ bracket semfinals. BC rebounded with a 17-2 victory over the Gonzalez Americans in an elimination game Sunday. They followed that with 10-2 victory over Ward 10 Tioga on Monday.
Members of the Bossier City team are are Clayton Brandon, Chase Rambin, Kenner Lauterbach, Wesley Gardner, Riley Sitter, Zach Schoenborn, Barrett Newman, Eli Harper, Conner Stevens, Roland Wilkinson, Mason Morgan and Preston Hill.
The Bossier City All-Stars finished runner-up in the Dixie Jr. Boys (13-year-old) state tournament. BC defeated host Pineville 13-3 Monday night to force a decisive second game for the title. But Pineville won the championship with a 6-3 victory.
After falling to Pineville in the first round, Bossier City defeated Monroe, West Monroe and Jefferson Parish.
The Bossier City 14s All-Stars reached the quarterfinals of the Dixie Boys state tournament, which was also played in Pineville.
The Benton 9-year-old All-Stars and Haughton 11-year-old O-Zone All-Stars both qualified for their respective World Series tournaments, which begin Thursday in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Members of the Benton state championship team are Bryson Pierce, Daniel Jayroe, Cason Toms, Colton Lasiter, Peyton Fulghum, Parker Fulghum, Andrew Wainscott, Cody Wilhite, Hudson Brignac, Caden Lee, Ryder Rutledge and Ryan Liles. Coaches are Hal Fulghum, Joey Windham and Jeff Liles.
Members of the Haughton state runner-up team are Blaise Ramirez, Braden Franks, Ryan Rimmer, Logan Carmack, Jackson Voight, Waylon Keith, Dakota Delahoussaye, Jake Pieri, Jacob Hernandez, Dylan Hedrick and Sawyer Dunn. Head coach is Bobby Hernandez. Assistants are John Hernandez and Randy Murphy.
The District 4 champion Benton All-Stars begin play in the O-Zone state tournament Friday in Concordia Parish.
Team members are Liam Rogers, Grayson Mims, Dane Stearns, Cameron Braun, Tanner Underwood, Adam Smith, Jackson Illingworth, Daymon Burrell, Jack Walters, Cody Jones, Ryley Sharp and Todd Dominick. Coaches are Jason Mims, Ryan Stearns and Brad Sharp.
Bossier City Minor and Major Machine Pitch All-Star squads begin play in their respective state tournaments Friday at John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
