By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Ruston High senior pitcher Eli Crawford was up at the facility Sunday getting some individual practice in and had no idea he was going to be getting the nod to start for the Bearcats on the mound the next night.
But after he found out, boy, did he make the moment count, as Crawford pitched a complete-seven innings, striking out eight batters and only walking one to lead the Bearcats (8-6) to a 5-1 home win over Tioga (8-5).
“He came into our office in early January and told us he could help the team if he moved to pitcher only,” Ruston High head coach Bryan Beck said. “And he’s a great pitcher, but he’s struggled a little bit — he’d get two quick outs and then he would walk a couple. He just been struggling with the pitching demons. And we told him that he was getting the ball tonight. We believe in him and his teammates believe in him.
“(Pitching coach Doc Wilkerson) has done a phenomenal job encouraging these kids and showing belief in them and what it’s like to be a great teammate. And Eli just went out there with a lot of confidence knowing his coaches and teammates believed in him, and he pitched incredibly tonight.”
Prior to first pitch, the teams honored a Tioga student who had passed away this weekend with a team prayer at home plate.
Ruston took a 1-0 lead after junior Nolan Parnell reached on an error on a bunt, scoring freshman Dalen Powell from second base. Senior designated hitter Jake Tyler scored on the next Bearcat at-bat after sophomore Sam Hartwell grounded out to the second baseman to extend the score to 2-0.
The Bearcats scored on another error in the bottom of the third inning after junior Hudson Wood stole two bases and then scored on a ground ball by Powell for a 3-0 lead.
Senior Kolby Sonnier then added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to score Hartwell and put Ruston up 4-0.
After the Indians finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth, Ruston got one more insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning off of a Tioga error on a Powell grounder, scoring Wood again for the 5-1 win.
In all, the Indians finished the game with four errors.
Beck said he was strategic with his lineup tonight based on the possibility of seeing a left-handed pitcher from Tioga.
“We decided we were going to stack our lineup with righties tonight,” Beck said. “It was a lineup we hadn’t seen all year. We really just got going quick and put some pressure on them with our running and stealing game. We didn’t have to bang the ball all over the yard tonight — we had some timely hitting and good run support for Eli. Tioga is a really good team, and they’re going to win a bunch of games. That was a big win for us.”
Beck also added he was pleased with his team playing well after a win, which came in a 9-1 victory over Archbishop Shaw in the last weekend game at the Jay Patterson Classic in South Louisiana.
“We’ve struggled this year winning games and then bouncing back to win the one behind it,” Beck said. “Our guys responded well to our lineup change. Everybody in the dugout believed in it; our coaching staff believed in it. We played baseball the way it was supposed to be played tonight, so I’m really happy for our team.”
The Bearcats are set return to action tonight at Parkway, though inclement weather could postpone the game.
