By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — The Ruston High Bearcats had one last chance at a tune-up before beginning district play this weekend.
They sure made it count Tuesday night at home, getting a run-rule shut out victory over a stout North DeSoto squad 10-0 at the Ruston High Baseball Field.
“Man, what a big win for the Bearcats tonight,” Ruston High Head Coach Bryan Beck said. “We had a really good start — I thought our kids responded really well to the weekend off. We had a practice on Sunday, which didn’t go that well — it was kind of cold, misty and raining. But (Monday), we had a really, really good practice, and I felt good.
“I told our kids that if we can get some good starting pitching, not make any errors, and if we do what we do on offense, whether that’s beat the ball around the park or just small-ball chaos game, then we’re going to have a chance to win a lot of ballgames. I think that’s what you’re seeing now. You’re seeing this group of kids believe in that. So hats off to our coaches and kids for getting ready to play a really, really good team.”
Ranked No. 3 currently in the Non-Select Division II power rankings, North DeSoto entered the contest with an 11-4 record on the season before Ruston’s dominant performance. The Bearcats shot out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, with junior Jackson Lee leading the way with a triple to start the bottom of the first. Senior Peyton Martin, who had missed the previous 10 games, made the start at short stop and singled in the next at-bat to score Lee for Ruston’s first run.
“Having Peyton Martin is a big deal for us,” Beck said. “He was out for about 10 games. He’s back with the team now. And, man, when you have a guy that’s playing up the middle for you, that has the experience he does and with what he’s able to bring in our bunt game — it’s just something you really can’t replace. We fought through those 10 games without him.”
Martin would then score two batters later on a steal to home plate to give Ruston a 2-0 lead. Senior Carter Love added a bunt single to score sophomore John Parker Moak for the third run of the inning.
Love would ground out to short stop in the bottom of the third to score Moak and get Ruston’s first of two runs in the inning. Junior Jackson Burroughs would single two-batters later to score freshman Dalen Powell from third base and give Ruston a 5-0 lead.
Ruston would score four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning after a two-RBI double by Moak to centerfield, scoring Lee and Martin to put the Bearcats up 7-0. Junior Lander Smith would ground out in the next at bat, scoring both senior Jake Simmons and Moak for a 9-0 lead.
The Bearcats would get the final run in the bottom of the fifth inning after Lee doubled to center field and scored junior Hudson Wood.
Sophomore Tyler Roach got the start on the mound and struck out four batters in 5.0 innings pitched with no walks and no earned runs for the complete game shut out.
“I have got to give a lot of credit to (pitching coach) Doc Wilkerson — he recommended Tyler to start this game tonight,” Beck said. “(Tyler) needed this start, and he got it, man. We needed him to go five innings, and he did that for us. And since we ended up getting the run-rule in the fifth, we didn’t have to use anybody in the bullpen, which was good for us. I’m really happy for Tyler to be able to get his first varsity win as a sophomore. He really just shoved on the mound tonight and shut down a really good hitting North DeSoto team.”
Ruston will return to action Thursday, March 13, at 6 p.m. at Ouachita to open district play, and then Friday, March 14, for a home game with Natchitoches Center at 6 p.m. Finally, the Bearcats will host Ouachita Saturday, March 15, at 2 p.m. for senior night.
“We’ll enjoy this one, and we’ll be locked and loaded with all our arms ready to go,” Beck said. “We’ve got three tough ball games at the end of the week, and we’ll have our work cut out for us.
“But we’re going to enjoy this one tonight for sure.”
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