SMC in tournament title round, to face Ville Platte

The Dixie Youth South Majors Regional finals have been set at the Bayou Vista Community Center, while the final two teams at the North Regional, which was plagued by inclement field conditions again Monday afternoon, will be decided by early this afternoon at the community center fields.
In the South Regional, St. Mary Central has emerged from the loser’s bracket after defeating Minden, 6-0, in an elimination contest Monday.
Now, the local squad will face Ville Platte today at 5:30 p.m. in a rematch of the teams’ first-round contest Friday that Ville Platte won 6-1.
Because Ville Platte is undefeated, St. Mary Central must beat it twice to win the South Regional and advance to this weekend’s best two-out-of-three state tournament in Alexandria.
Ville Platte is 4-0 in South Regional play, having outscored opponents 35-9. Pontiff, who had played Ville Platte the closest in their first matchup Saturday, was eliminated in a second meeting with the Evangeline Parish-based team Monday, 13-0.
St. Mary Central is 3-1 in tournament action and has outscored its opponents 31-5.
In its latest contest Monday, St. Mary Central pitchers Carter “JoJo” Williams and Nick Spitale combined to toss a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and just three walks.
Offensively, St. Mary Central had just five hits but also walked seven times.
St. Mary Central scored three runs in the bottom of the first and two in the bottom of the second for a 5-0 advantage.
The host team added another run in the bottom of the fourth for the final margin.
Williams earned the win. In three innings, he surrendered two walks and fanned nine.
In three innings of relief, Spitale surrendered one walk and fanned six.
Offensively, Ross Thomas led St. Mary Central with a 2-for-3 performance with a double, three RBIs and a run. Other top offensive contributors included Hayden Landry, 1-for-3, an RBI; Tanner Simmons, 1-for-2, a run, two stolen bases; Williams, 1-for-3, a run, a stolen base; Jackson Thorguson, a run, a stolen base; and Clay Menard and Spitale, each a run.
In the North Regional, Sunday’s action was played Monday morning due to inclement weather.
Monday’s scheduled action later in the day had to be moved to this morning because of inclement field conditions.
In Sunday’s makeup game, Sabine remained the tournament’s lone undefeated squad, knocking off Vernon Nationals, while Morgan City eliminated the Gonzales Nationals, 7-0, in the other makeup game Monday morning.
In Monday’s makeup action played this morning and early afternoon, Morgan City met Vernon Nationals at 10 a.m. for the right to advance to the championship round, while Sabine and Cleary squared off at approximately noon.
If Sabine wins, Cleary is eliminated and Sabine will advance to the championship round, beginning today at 6 p.m., where the Vernon Nationals-Morgan City winner would have to defeat them twice.
If Sabine loses, the tournament would feature three teams with one loss apiece. In that case, a bye would be drawn to advance to the championship game, while the other two teams would play in an elimination contest for the right to face the team that drew the bye.
In Monday’s contest against Gonzales, Morgan City’s Dylan Cornes tossed a complete-game six hitter with 13 strikeouts. In six innings, he surrendered two walks and hit one batter.
Offensively, Morgan City scored two runs in the first, three in the fourth and concluded its scoring with two runs in the fifth.
Morgan City had eight hits.
Riley Theriot led the offense with a 2-for-3 performance with three RBIs and a run. Other top offensive contributors included Spencer Hebert, 2-for-3, a double, an RBI; Cornes, 2-for-2, a stolen base, a run; Ben Miller, 1-for-2, a double, a run; Caleb O’con, 1-for-3, two runs; Caleb Menina, two RBIs, a stolen base, two runs; and Brayden Landry, a run.