RUSTON, La. — Facing stiff competition on the diamond, Ruston High (4-4) took one of four games over the weekend in the 2025 Trey Altick Classic, starting with a win Thursday night at home against Hahnville High school by a final score of 9-3 to open the tournament.
“I thought our record didn’t indicate that there were still some good things that happened this weekend,” Ruston High head baseball coach Bryan Beck said. “I thought we were ready to play on Thursday night to open the tournament against a good Hahnville team that had just beaten Dutchtown earlier this week. We knew that was going to be a tough opening game for us, and we showed up ready to play and all phases went really well for us.”
Ruston’s opening night win came after the Bearcats gave up three runs in the top of the fourth inning before scoring nine unanswered runs in innings four and five. Senior Bearcat David Griep took the mound and threw 4.1 innings, while striking out seven batters and giving up two earned runs. Sophomore Tyler Roach came in for relief and struck out five Tiger batters.
“Griep did a really good job, and then we brought in probably one of our best righties out of the bullpen in Roach,” Beck said. “We decided we were going to play to win the game and put (Roach) in. And he finished the game out for a few innings. And that’s two of our best pitchers. But we’re going to play to win and really felt good a lot of energy. Just a really good win for our program.
After the Bearcats loaded the bases, sophomore Davis DeMoss got the first run in the fourth inning after a balk by Hahnville’s pitcher. Sophomore Nolan Parnell was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, which scored junior Jackson Burroughs.
Junior Jackson Lee was then hit by a pitch on the next at-bat to score sophomore John Parker Moak, and following another loaded-bases walk that scored junior Hudson Wood, Ruston led 4-3 going into the fifth.
The Bearcats would add the next round of runs beginning with freshman Dalen Powell scoring on a passed ball by the pitcher. Lee would be walked a few batters later, which scored junior Kenden Freeman. Ruston sophomore Dillion Williams would single on a fly ball to right field, scoring Wood, sophomore Michael Brisco, and Lee for the 9-3 score.
Juniors Hudson Wood and Lander Smith would both get multiple hits in the contest, with Williams tallying the team’s only double.
The next day, Ruston would lose in extra innings to St. Charles Catholic by a final score of 5-4.
“We really just came out flat on Friday against Saint Charles Catholic,” Beck said. “It was a very, very winnable game. We felt good going in with the scouting report we had and just were really flat. We had let that big win (against Hahnville) and a lot of energy from Thursday night hang over us. We didn’t look good in pregame.
“They’re a state championship program there — they know how to win. They don’t care who they play or what classification they play. I told our kids they were going to be ready to play, and we just didn’t show up. And a part of that is just learning how to handle wins.”
Ruston got out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Williams shot a single into center field to score Lee. Senior Jake Simmons would add another run with a sacrifice fly to score Williams, who got to third base on a passed ball.
After the Comets tied the game in the top of the second, Ruston added another run in the bottom of the second on a two-out single by Lee into center field, which scored senior Carter Love and gave Ruston a 3-2 lead. The Bearcats added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Powell scored on a one-out grounder from junior Hudson Wood.
St. Charles Catholic would add a run in each of the top of the fifth, seventh, and eighth to get the win.
Senior Talan Billberry pitched the first five innings and struck out four batters. Lee finished with three hits on the day, while Williams added two. Both Lee and Smith tallied doubles.
On Saturday, Ruston would drop both games of the day – first to John Curtis 8-6 and then to Captain Shreve 8-5.
In the John Curtis game, seven errors would doom the Bearcats despite have a chance in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie or win the game.
“Saturday felt like the same thing as Friday,” Beck said. “I thought Hahnville was the best team we played all weekend talent-wise, and we played them at our best and lost the other three. That’s tough to swallow. We’ve got to be better.”
The Bearcats got down 4-0 by the middle of the fourth inning before getting an RBI-single from Smith on a grounder into left field, scoring Simmons. Brisco would score on a wild pitch two batters later on an at-bat by Powell, who then singled into left field to score Moak, cutting the lead to 4-3.
The Bearcats would surrender four more runs total by the top of the seventh inning and furiously tried to rally in the bottom of the inning to try to tie. Wood took a one-out walk to score Brisco again, while sophomore Hunter Soto doubled into right field to score both Moak and Powell to cut the game to 8-6. Unfortunately, the rally would come up short.
Simmons, Smith, Moak and Powell all finished with multiple hits, with Simmons and Soto both tallying doubles in the contest. The pitching committee of Love, senior Eli Crawford and senior Samuel Specht totaled eight strikeouts from the mound.
Playing a few hours later, the Bearcats would fall 8-5 to Captain Shreve after surrendering three runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Ruston took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a fielder’s choice ground-out to shortstop, scoring Powell. Captain Shreve would tie in the top of the third at 1-1, right before Williams hit a line drive single into center field on two outs to score Brisco and give the Bearcats a 2-1 lead.
The Gators would get four runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 5-2 lead before Ruston force a tie in the bottom of the stanza after Wood scored on a Gator error with two outs. Moak hit a single two batters later to score Brisco and Williams for a 5-5 score. Captain Shreve, however would get three runs in the top of the seventh for the win.
Sophomore Peyton Nations got the start against Captain Shreve, pitching 4.2 innings and striking out two.
“We didn’t finish against Captain Shreve,” Beck said. “We were out of pitching. Peyton is normally one of our catchers. He really, really pitched well for us.”
Overall, Beck said that his team got better this weekend despite dropping three. The Bearcats have a chance to respond Tuesday on the road against Airline for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
“We’ve got to get over it quick,” Beck said. “We have to win games the next day after we win a game against a good opponent. And we just don’t know how to do that yet, but we’re going to get there.”
