By T. Scott Boatright

The Ruston High School baseball team had a strong season before falling in a second round best-of-three series at Sam Houston High School in Moss Bluff.

So it’s no surprise that the Bearcats placed nine players on the first team of the All District 2-5A Baseball Team, including Pitcher of the Year Reid Williams.

Williams was joined as a first-team All District 2-5A selection by junior pitcher JR Tollett, junior catcher RJ Brown, senior outfielder Dawson Szymanski and junior outfielder Cade Patterson along with “uber” utility players Dawson Willis (senior) and Dyson Fields (junior).

That crucial core group propelled the tenth-seeded Bearcats to the second-seeded Broncos in Moss Bluff before being swept in a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

But the Bearcats had already left their mark on the 2-5A season.

Patterson and Szymanski provided much of the Bearcats’ punch this season, with Patterson batting .424 with 12 RBIs while Szymanski hit at a .375 clip with 14 RBIs.

Three Bearcats earned second team All 2-5A accolades — junior pitcher Nick Robinson, junior third baseman Wade Crawford and sophomore utility player Logan Foster.

Ruston also had four players earn All 2-5A honorable mention — Bryant Bennett, David Griep, Peyton Beck and Justin Szymanski.