By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON — It was a dominating effort on all fronts.
Ruston High’s (15-8) offense erupted in the middle innings, while junior Tyler Roach delivered another steady outing on the mound as the Bearcats rolled past ASH 9-1 on Thursday.
After a quiet start, Ruston broke through in the third inning when junior JP Moak tripled home a run, an error brought in another, and junior Sam Hartwell added a two-run double to push the Bearcats in front 4-0 where they would take the lead for good.
From there, Ruston settled into its rhythm — something head coach Bryan Beck said starts with confidence and a clear identity at the plate.
“Man, what can you say about our kids? They’re confident right now. They’re playing really good,” Beck said. “Anytime you get a start from your ace, Tyler Roach, you know there are opportunities to be patient offensively. That’s what we did, and then we had that breakout inning.”
Roach made that approach hold up. The right-hander went the distance, allowing four hits and just one unearned run over seven innings while striking out four and walking one.
With Roach controlling the game, Ruston’s lineup began to apply steady pressure — working counts, getting on base, and capitalizing on ASH miscues.
“We’re just trying to be very tough outs. That’s our style of baseball,” Beck said. “Work counts, get on base any way possible, put the ball in play and see if they can make plays. When that pressure builds, you look up and you’ve got traffic on the bases and good hitters coming up.”
Moak and senior Jackson Lee led the way with two hits apiece at the top of the lineup, while Hartwell drove in two runs and continued his strong stretch in the middle of the order.
“Sam Hartwell is a big part of the middle of our lineup, and he’s on fire for us right now,” Beck said. “When he gets on base, he’s incredibly fast and smart. We’ve got a lot of good things going.”
Ruston also created havoc on the bases, swiping seven steals and turning a double play defensively to support Roach’s effort.
The Bearcats will look to carry that momentum into Friday’s road matchup in Alexandria as they continue district play.
“We talk about winning the week, winning the series,” Beck said. “We got one tonight, but the week’s not over. We’ve got to go down there tomorrow and be very competitive.”
