Area Pony 13s fall to St. Landry

Staff Report
The St. Mary Pony League 13-year-old All-Stars dropped their first contest at the Pony 13 & Under Super Region Tournament Thursday with an 11-8 loss to St. Landry Youth Athletic Association.
While St. Mary had dominated its first two opponents — outscoring them a combined 38-0 — on Thursday, St. Landry dominated for much of the contest, taking as much as an 11-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
However, St. Mary put together a furious rally, scoring five runs. The game ended on a groundout to short with St. Mary runners on first and third base and the tying run at the plate.
St. Mary initially took a 1-0 lead after the first inning, and while St. Landry took a 2-1 lead after its second inning at bat, St. Mary tied the score at 2 in the bottom of the second inning.
St. Landry took the lead for good with a run in the top of the third, followed by six in the fourth and one in the fifth for a 10-2 lead.
St. Mary plated another run in the bottom of the fifth, and St. Landry scored a run in the top of the seventh before St. Mary staged its huge comeback attempt.
Ian Valdez suffered the loss for St. Mary. In three innings, he surrendered three runs on five hits with three walks and fanned five.
Rustin Ratcliff also saw time on the mound for St. Mary, tossing three innings and surrendering a run on three hits with no walks and fanning two.
Mitchell Sanford led St. Mary with a 2-for-4 performance with a double, an RBI and two runs, while Luke Felterman was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.
Other top contributors included Brad Beaubouef, 2-for-3, an RBI; and Seth Giroir, 2-for-4, an RBI and two runs.
St. Mary now will play Cajun Sports Association today in an elimination game at 6 p.m. The winner of that contest will face St. Landry immediately after.
If St. Landry wins the contest between the CSA-St. Mary winner, it will finish undefeated and win the Super Region championship.
However, if the CSA-St. Mary winner beats St. Landry, the two teams will play again Saturday to decide the champion and runner-up.
Both the champion and runner-up will advance to Pony 13 South Zone Tournament, which is split into an elite (mainly travel ball teams) and traditional (league-based play) teams.
The champion will play in the traditional tournament in Deer Park, Texas, while the runner-up will play in the elite tournament in Houston.