Bobcats remain perfect in district

CHURCH POINT – Behind the pitching of senior Caleb Taylor, the Eunice High Bobcats improved their District 5-3A record to 3-0 Tuesday with a 2-1, nine-inning victory over the Church Point High Bears.
Taylor and Bears’ pitcher Collin Latiolais dueled each other over the course of the game.
Each pitcher gave up a run in the sixth inning, but Taylor would eventually prevail by retiring the side in the bottom of the ninth after his teammates had scratched a run against the Bears’ pitcher in the top of the ninth.
Jonas Granger drew a walk to open the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Cameron Givens would drive home Granger by driving a line drive into right-center field.
That run was all Taylor needed to secure the victory.
The only other hits for the Cats came from a Tyler Darbonne double in the eighth inning and a single in the seventh inning by Granger.
The Bobcats, who improved their season record to 15-5 with the win, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth against Latiolais.
Christian Taylor drew a walk off the Bears’ pitcher and Austin Phillips came on as a pinch runner for the Bobcat designated hitter.
Phillips stole second base and eventually scored when Josh Youngblood’s grounder was misplayed into an error.
The Bears didn’t let the Cats enjoy the lead for long, tying the game in the bottom of the sixth. Latiolais aided his own cause with a double down the third base line.
Taylor retired the next two batters, but Ronnie Meche singled in the tying run before Taylor retired the side.
Taylor, now 5-2 on the season, scattered five hits in his nine innings of work. He did not walk a batter and recorded six strikeouts. Latiolais allowed just three hits and one earned run in his nine innings on the mound. He struck out three and walked six.
The Bobcats, now 15-5 overall, are scheduled to host the Port Barre Red Devils on Thursday as they continue their district schedule.

EHS 8, Northwest 1
Behind the complete game pitching performance of junior Christian Taylor, the Eunice High Bobcats improved to 2-0 in District 5-3A with an 8-1 victory over the Northwest High Raiders.
The Bobcats, improving their overall record to 14-5, took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off Northwest starting pitcher Clylan Lavergne. Cade Richard singled, stole second base and later scored.
The Bobcats added two runs in the third inning for a 3-0 lead. Richard reached on an error and advanced to third on a pickoff attempt.
Logan Manuel drove in Richard with a sacrifice fly. Christian Lejeune singled and advanced to second on a passed ball. Lejeune scored on a single by Christian Taylor.
The Cats extended their lead to 6-0 with a three-run fourth inning.
With one out, Jonas Granger laid down a bunt single and advanced to second base on a stolen base.
A single by Cameron Givens scored Granger. Givens later scored on a single Richard.
After Richard stole two bases, he would score on a balk by relief pitcher Andre Woodson.
Richard ended the game with five stolen bases.
The Raiders scored a run in the top of the fifth. Christian Rideau and Alex Fontenot had singles to open the inning.
Rideau would later score when Fontenot was picked off and stayed in a rundown to allow Rideau to score.
The Cats would score single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take an 8-1 lead, but Taylor would finish the game by holding the Raiders scoreless over the final two innings.
For the game, Taylor (4-0) limited the Raiders to two hits, struck out 10, and issued two walks.
Richard and Christian Taylor had two hits apiece to lead the Bobcats on offense. Lejeune,
Austin Manuel, Granger, and Givens had single hits for the Cats.
Eunice continues district action today with a home game against Port Barre.