From Staff Reports

Morgan City finished 1-1 this past weekend at the Babe Ruth Louisiana Softball Tournament in St. Francisville.

On Friday afternoon, Morgan City eliminated Denham Springs with a 10-8 victory, while on Saturday the squad was eliminated in a 15-14 loss to Plaquemine. The loss, the local squad’s second in the tournament, also was its second one-run loss. In its opener on Thursday, Morgan City fell to Kenner, 18-17.

Morgan City finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.

Morgan City coach Charlie Solar said he was impressed with his squad’s showing, considering their limited practice time together (the all-star squad was announced less than a week before it began play) and his squad’s ability to adapt to playing with no time limit and handle the high temperatures they played in.

“We only had two scrimmages and practices as a team,” he said.

Like Thursday’s game, in Saturday’s loss the Morgan City squad held a substantial lead at one point but just couldn’t hold on.

Heading into the fourth inning, Morgan City held a 7-2 advantage.

However, timely hitting by Plaquemine and Morgan City errors allowed the Baton Rouge area squad to come back.

By the sixth inning, Morgan City trailed 13-8.

While Plaquemine extended its lead with two runs in the sixth inning, Morgan City nearly erased the deficit in the bottom of the frame with six runs in its final at bat.

Terre’Yan Johnson led Morgan City with two singles, while Carli Solar added a double and Nia Lightfoot added a single.

Abby Sanford started the game for Morgan City and pitched five innings. Katie Brooks closed out the game for the local squad.

In Friday’s win, Solar started and pitched the first three innings, while Brooks again closed out the game.

At the plate, Solar led the squad with two doubles and a single, while Lightfoot added a double and a triple. Ava Nicar, Courtney Welsh and Julianna Hernandez each added a single in the victory.

Patterson 11-12’s finish 1-2

In other action at the Babe Ruth Louisiana State 12U Tournament in St. Francisville, the Patterson 11-12’s finished 1-2.

After winning their initial game Thursday against Denham Springs, 11-1, the squad fell twice Saturday, first to St. Charles (score unavailable) and then to Franklin, 11-1.

Assistant coach Rachael Smith said the squad had never played a game this postseason until Thursday.

“I was proud of them,” Smith said. “They hung in there.”

Patterson 10’s winless

The Patterson 9-10’s were winless at the Babe Ruth Louisiana State 10U Tournament in St. Francisville, with a loss to Plaquemine Thursday and another Friday to Terrebonne. No scores or stats were available for either game.

Despite the quick exit, coach Robert Marin said his squad gained valuable experience from the trip.

“We needed the experience of going to do that” and seeing what the level of competition was in Babe Ruth softball, Marin said.

This year was the first that Patterson competed in Babe Ruth Softball.

The Patterson 7-8’s also participated in the Babe Ruth Louisiana State 8U Tournament last week. No information on the squad’s performance was available.