Oilers in a Must-Win Situation as They Tangle with Gauthier-Amedee on Monday, July 25; Game Time Approximately 3:30 PM at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium

Third baseman Hunt Conroy throws to Marshall Lee at first base for an out.

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View the American Legion  State Tournament Brackets

Retif Oil wasted no time putting up a number on Kirsch-Rooney Stadium’s scoreboard against Otto Candies in Sunday night’s marquee game at the American Legion State Tournament. The Oilers’ leadoff hitter, center fielder Bryce Musso, singled, stole second base, advanced to third base on a fielder’s choice, and scored on an infield throwing error.

One is the loneliest number because it’s the only run the Oilers scored against Hahnville-based Otto Candies, which handed Retif, the defending state champions, its first loss, 7-1, in the double-elimination tournament.

Retif Oil’s ace southpaw, Davis Martin, threw about 100 pitches against Otto Candies. He gave up three runs on five hits and had seven strikeouts.

The Oilers play Gauthier-Amedee (which lost its opening game Saturday to Ponstein’s) on Monday afternoon at approximately 3:30 p.m. at the Rooney. The game will start 30 minutes following completion of a 1 p.m. game between Chalmette-based Gulf Coast Bank and Holy Cross-based Ponstein’s. Admission is $10.

In their opening game Saturday against the Indians of St. Landry Bank, Retif tallied seven runs on 12 hits. The Oilers were sitting atop a 6-3 lead until the eighth inning when the Indians scored three runs to tie the game. The Oilers, however, pulled out a 7-6 walk-off win when Musso, yes the same Bryce, hit a towering fly ball to deep center field, an easy stand-up triple. But a throwing error on that play opened the door for Musso to go for home.

Everything seemed to change overnight as Retif’s offense looked, well, anemic. The Oilers barely mustered four hits: Musso’s single in the first, a generous double by shortstop Marc Theberge, and a pair of singles off the bat of left fielder Mack Miller. The Oilers committed three errors to go with the three errors made in the first game against St. Landry Bank. Six errors in two games. Two of the errors in the Otto Candies game were particularly painful. One of those errors led to Otto Candies scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. Another error came in the eighth inning (the eighth has a bug-a-boo complex for Retif) and the Oilers paid dearly: four runs (three off of the error) resulted in Otto Candies extending its lead to 7-1.

Retif’s bright spot was starting pitcher Davis Martin, who went five and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on seven hits. The left-hander notched seven strikeouts. Collin Miller, a right-hander, pitched two and one-third innings in relief, giving up four runs on five hits with one strikeout. Martin took the loss to drop his Legion record to 3-2.

The game between Retif and Otto Candies was supposed to start around 6 p.m., but a brief, yet intense, thunderstorm earlier in the afternoon wrecked the schedule. The game didn’t start until 8 p.m. and lasted more than three hours.

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