Bobcats fall to WCA in Metro play

The Eunice Bobcats suffered their first loss of the Acadian Metro League on Tuesday, falling to Westminster Crusaders by an 8-3 margin.
The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead thanks to a fielding error in the first inning against Eunice starting pitcher Austin Phillips, but the Bobcats tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.
Gunner Fontenot singled and scored on a triple off the bat of Tyler Darbonnne.
The Crusaders managed their second run in the third, then chased Phillips with three runs in the fourth as they built a 5-0 lead.
Phillips worked three-and-two-thirds innings, giving up four hits and three unearned runs.
He walked two and had one strikeout.
The Cats cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Austin Manuel doubled to open the inning, but was thrown out trying to advance to third on a wild pitch.
Trevor Sattler reached on an error and Josh Youngblood reached safely on a fielders’ choice.
Courtesy runner Brady Smith later scored on a wild pitch and Jaden Brasseaux singled to score the second run of the inning.
The Crusader pitching staff would keep the Cats at bay for the remainder of the game.
Westminster added single runs in each of the final three innings to claim the 8-3 victory.
In addition to Darbonne’s triple, the Cats had doubles by Manuel and Christian Taylor.
The Cats had singles by Fontenot, Guillory, Brasseaux, and Jonas Granger.
Brandon Martel and Granger would work the final three innings in relief for the Bobcats.
The two combined to strike out four Crusaders during their time on the mound.
Eunice finished with a 2-1 record last weekend on a road trip to Alexandria.
The Cats claimed wins over Sulphur and Tioga before falling to Iowa by a 10-9 margin.
On Friday, against Sulphur, the Cats took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Kameron Givens led off with a bunt single and Darbonne singled.
Josh Youngblood’s sacrifice bunt scored Givens and Manuel drove in Darbonne with a sacrifice fly.
Sulphur answered in the second inning against Eunice starter Brasseaux with three runs and added a single run in the third inning on a run-scoring double by Brody Strahan for a 4-2 advantage. Another run in the fourth on a double by Jake Broussard and a run-scoring single by Connor Murphy gave Sulphur a 5-2 lead.
The Cats regained the lead with two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh. Ian George walked to open the fifth and scored on a single by Phillips.
Pillips scored on a single by Tyler Darbonne. In the seventh, the Cats claimed the 6-5 victory on a run-scoring single by Darbonne, who finished the game with four singles in four at-bats in the game.
Brandon Martel earned the mound win with three innings in relief of Brasseaux. Martel scattered three hits and struck out three in shutting out the Tors over the final three innings.
On Saturday, the Cats jumped out to an 8-1 lead over Tioga after four innings. Darbonne allowed just two hits before turning the game over to the Bobcat bullpen. But the Bobcat defense committed two errors and the Tioga bats came alive to score six runs to cut the lead to 8-7 heading into the final two innings.
The Cats scored a run in the bottom of the fifth go ahead 9-7 and relief pitcher Givens pitched two shutout innings, giving up only one hit to seal the victory for the Bobcats.
Offensively, the Cats were led by Phillips, Darbonne, and Jonas Granger with two hits apiece. Granger drove in four runs, with three scoring on a bases-loaded double in the fourth.
In the Saturday finale against Iowa, the Bobcats again took the early lead with a four-run first inning. Singles by Phillips, Darbonne, Youngblood, Manuel and Zac Guillory highlighted the offense for the Cats in that inning.
The Yellowjackets tied the game at 4-4 with a four-run third inning, but Cats regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third on a single by Givens, a double Brasseaux, and sacrifice fly by Guillory.
Iowa scored two runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead, but the Cats scored three in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead at 8-5. The Jackets tied the score with three runs in the sixth and added a single run in the top of the seventh for a 10-8 lead. The Cats scored a run in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to tie the game, giving the Cats their first loss of the summer season.