Guth fans 15, Barbe edges Anacoco 1-0
Warren Arceneaux
Adam Guth made two big pitches and in the seventh inning. The first kept him in the game. The second one ended it.
The Barbe pitcher threw a 3-hit shutout, with 15 strikeouts, to lead Barbe to a 1-0 nondistrict win over Anacoco on Saturday.
After Anacoco’s final hit, a one-out single in the seventh, Bucs head coach Glenn Cecchini went to the mound. Guth talked him into letting him stay on the mound.
“He wanted to pull me out but I wouldn’t let him,” Guth said. “I wanted to win this game and finish strong.”
Guth threw just one more pitch after Cecchini granted his request, getting a grounder to second that turned into a game-ending double play.
The performance was important for Guth, a UL-Lafayette signee.
“I have been having a pretty bad season, so I needed this,” he said. “Today, I just quit thinking. I just played baseball, had fun.”
Guth said fastball location keyed his dominant performance.
“My fastball was working, it had a lot of spin and I was keeping it up,” he said. “Then I was able to come with the curve ball and changeup. The fastball really helped.”
Barbe scored in the first inning when leadoff hitter Kyle DeBarge was hit by a pitch and scored on an error.
Reid Rodriguez shut the Bucs out the rest of the way, striking out five and allowing only five hits.
Anacoco only had one runner reach second. Landry Alligood singled and Dylan Fitzgerald walked with one out in the fourth, but Guth got a strikeout and grounder to escape.
Rodriguez didn’t allow any extra base hits and forced seven ground ball outs and three popups. Anacoco right fielder Cy Johnson got Anacoco’s first hit, lining a single to right after Guth fanned seven of the first eight batters he faced. Johnson added a nice catch on a deep fly ball by Kam Edwards in the sixth inning to save a run.