Jays Pile Up Impressive Stats in Winning All Three Games at Their Own Tournament
Jesuit vs. Mandeville Photo Gallery (Game 3, Jesuit Invitational Tournament)
Jesuit vs. Byrd High Photo Gallery (Game 2, Jesuit Invitational Tournament)
Jesuit vs. West Feliciana Photo Gallery (Game 1, Jesuit Invitational Tournament)
In sweeping all three of their games this past weekend against worthy opponents at the 3rd Annual Jesuit Invitational Tournament, the Blue Jays displayed some awesome pitching, great defense, and clutch hitting.
And the Jays also posted some impressive statistics from their trio of games: 24 hits and 20 runs scored by Jesuit’s offense and at least 27 strikeouts by the pitching corps. The Jays’ opponents — West Feliciana Saints, Byrd High Yellowjackets, and Mandeville Skippers — had a total of 15 hits and six runs. The Skippers were shutout in the final game of the tournament on Saturday evening, March 8, at John Ryan Stadium.
After Jesuit won its two opening games on Friday, March 7 (defeating West Feliciana, 8-3, in the afternoon and Byrd High, 9-3, in the evening), Coach Joey Latino cautioned his troops about their game on Saturday against Mandeville, a team the Jays sacked, 9-1, on the Monday before Mardi Gras. “Mandeville will be a different team on Saturday than the team you played last Monday,” said Latino. And he was right.
The Jesuit – Mandeville game — delayed two hours because the opening game of the tournament on Saturday stretched to 13 innings — was scoreless until the Jays’ turn to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning. Up until then, Jesuit had not even registered a hit. Coach Latino called the entire team out of the dugout for a brief talk, and 30 seconds later, the Jays rekindled the fire in the belly.
Shortstop Andy Galy singled, then stole second base. Catcher Trent Forshag singled and Galy was waved home by Coach Latino. The throw to the Skippers’ catcher was juggled and Galy, sliding head-first, was safe. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Jays scored two more runs. Galy drew a walk and catcher Trent Forshag belted a triple that scored Galy standing up. Up comes junior designated hitter Harrison Daste, who bangs a double that scores Forshag’s pinch runner, junior Matt Cedro.
All senior pitcher C.J. Avrard had to do was deliver three outs in the top of the seventh. The first Skipper singled and stole second. The second Skipper grounded out and the final two batters went down on strikes. Game over. Avrard (2-0) pitched a complete game, giving up five hits, and whiffing an even dozen Skippers.
The Jays (8-1) expect to have good practices this week in preparing for a four-game tournament, the Jay Patterson Shootout, that starts Thursday and ends Saturday up the river in Gonzales and St. Amant.