By Kyle Roberts
Bearcat Baseball: Make it five more in a row for the Ruston Bearcat baseball squad, racking up a total win streak of ten straight now to give the Bearcats an overall 11-4 record as District 2-5A play looms on the schedule this coming week.
“We had a good week,” Ruston head baseball coach Zack Smith said. “Our defense and pitching staff did an awesome job. In the week, we only committed four total errors. Overall, our whole team effort was good.”
Ruston opened with an 8-3 win over Byrd on Tuesday with senior J.R. Tollett going 3-4 at the plate. Senior Chase Clendenen picked up the win on the mound.
The Bearcats then headed to South Louisiana to beat Zachary 6-1 on Thursday to open the East Ascension Tournament. The Bearcats took a 3-1 win over Mandeville on Friday, while getting a 7-2 win over host East Ascension and then 13-0 over Archbishop.
Senior RJ Brown batted 7-11 for the weekend at East Ascension while tallying four doubles. Senior Nick Robinson, Clendenen, junior Henry James and sophomore Talan Billberry each picked up a win.
Ruston has a full week ahead hosting Airline tonight at 6 p.m., and then opening district play Thursday, March 16, at home against ASH at 5:30 p.m.
Lady Bearcat Softball: The Lady Bearcat softball team is still making strides in growth this season despite not getting a win last week with Quitman winning Monday 4-2, ASh winning Tuesday 12-2, and Pineville winning Wednesday 13-2.
Ruston head coach Lauren Garvie talked about her team’s early efforts last week after playing three games in three consecutive days.
“I thought we came out aggressive,” Garvie said. “Right off the bat, first pitch we hit a line drive and I couldn’t have been more proud. We ended up doing the same thing against ASH. It did a lot for us as a team. I thought (junior pitcher) Cala (Wilson) pitched incredibly well for us. Each game has something to fix; we know that, and the next practice we go right back to work in trying to fix things.
“Each game, an opposing coach or fan has commented on the growth of this team, even if the wins/loss column isn’t showing that yet. These girls have grown, and we will continue to do so.”
The Lady Bearcats will take on West Ouachita tonight to continue district play.
