St. Louis extends win streak
{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><strong>District 4-3A | </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>St. Louis </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>9, </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>Iowa </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>7</strong></span></p>" id="b847eed1-a077-4f94-946b-03f96ea999d9" style-type="quote" title="Pull Quote" type="relcontent"}}
<p class="p1">St. Louis Catholic lost the lead twice but battled back to beat Iowa 9-7 on Tuesday to sweep the two-game District 4-3A series.
<p class="p3">“We took the lead 4-1 and they came right back with four more to take the lead,” St. Louis head coach John Michael Collins said. “We just battled back and kept it within range all ballgame.
<p class="p3">“Like I said the other night, I knew these guys (Iowa) would not lay down for us. They were going to give us everything they have. Every time we play them they always it is a war.”
<p class="p3">The Saints extended their win streak to six games and have won eight of their last 10 games to improve to 13-11 and 6-0 in district.
<p class="p3">“We are putting it together at the right time, playing hard and still finding ways to win ballgames,” Collins said.
<p class="p3">St. Louis showed a lot of power at Legion Field on Tuesday with five extra-base hits and even mixed in some bunts.
<p class="p3">“We are swinging it really well right now,” Collins said. “We had a couple of triples and a homer tonight.
<p class="p3">“We strung some hits together and we executed a couple of bunts that were big.”
<p class="p3">Down 5-4 in the bottom of the third inning with two outs, Grant Cholley launched a mammoth home run over the wall in left field to tie the score.
<p class="p3">St. Louis erased another one-run deficit with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning and two more in the fifth. Blake Granger knotted the score at 6-6 when he scored on an error in the fourth and Gus Milligan scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on a double play. Jeremiah Ceasar added an insurance run with an RBI triple to center field to bring home Mike Lavergne.
<p class="p3">Iowa (12-12, 3-3) led three times but lost its third consecutive game.
<p class="p3">The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Dyami Huntsberry stole home.
<p class="p3">Iowa broke a 1-1 tie with its best inning, a four-run third. Iowa had five hits in the inning with four to the left side of the field, including an RBI double by Bryce Buquet for the lead.
<p class="p3">Iowa’s last lead came in the fourth inning. Blaise Theriot reached base on an error and scored on a double to left field by Haeden Joubert.
<p class="p3">The Yellow Jackets tried to rally in the top of the seventh, scoring a run on Brandt Fontenot’s single to right field, but Logan Gray closed out the game by inducing a fly out to earn the save. Gray struck out two and allowed one run on two hits and a walk.
<p class="p3">Damon Fountain (2-2) got the win despite allowing six runs through the first four innings and having his pitch count climb quickly. He was shut down after throwing 118 pitches, seven shy of the 125-pitch count limit set this season by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. Fountain finished with eight strikeouts and one walk.
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><strong>District 4-3A | </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>St. Louis </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>9, </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>Iowa </strong></span><span class="s1"><strong>7</strong></span>