Gents top LaGrange for 4-4A lead

LAKE CHARLES – In a battle for the early outright lead in District 4-4A, the Crowley Gents came through in a big way.
After falling behind, 1-0, in the top of the third inning, the Gents rallied for eight unanswered runs to upend LaGrange, 8-1, Thursday evening at Miller Stadium.
With the victory, the Gents improved to 14-2 on the season and 4-0 in league play. LaGrange fell to 8-3 and 2-1.
“We knew we were going to have our hands full and I thought we definitely stepped up tonight,” said CHS coach Christian Doughty, whose team is currently ranked No. 10 in the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association Class 4A Polls.
Doughty’s squad struggled early in the contest, mostly due to LaGrange hurler Cole Frank. The freshman southpaw set the Gents down in order in the first two frames and didn’t give up a hit until the third inning after retiring eight straight batters.
“The pitcher they (LaGrange) threw wasn’t overpowering, but he mixed it up well and he had us off balance for several innings,” said Doughty.
The first hit Cole did give up was a big one, however.
With two outs in the third inning, Will Doughty drove a fastball to center field for a single. Alex Ashby followed with line-drive double down the left field line to plate Doughty and tie the game at 1-1.
Pate Broussard, the Gents’ starting pitcher, helped his own cause an inning later when he led off the fourth inning with a single to left field. He advanced to second when the Gators’ left fielder misplayed the ball. Bubba Daigle made the miscue hurt later in the frame when he singled to right center field to drive in Broussard and give the Gents a 2-1 advantage.
The Gators aided the Gents in the fifth inning when Broussard reached base on an error at shortstop with two outs. The miscue gave the Gents runners at first and third base for Jon Riley Mouton.
Mouton came through with another big two-out hit - a triple to the left center field gap that plated two more runs.
“We were able to capitalize on a few errors tonight,” said Doughty. “It seemed like the few times that they (LaGrange) made errors, we were able to come through with a big hit to take advantage of that.
“We just came up with some timely hits when we needed them. We didn’t outhit them by much, but, again, we got timely hits right after they made some errors.”
The Gents added their final four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning courtesy of three hits, two walks and an error.
Two runs scored on a two-out error before Broussard, who was 2-for-4 on the night, drove in two more runs with a double to center field.
Broussard was also stellar on the mound for the Gents in earning the complete-game victory. He scattered five hits, walked one and struck out one while throwing just 80 pitches in seven innings.
“Pate was excellent tonight,” said Doughty. “He just had great command. He only had one strikeout, but to be able to throw all three pitches for strikes and to be able to hold a good offensive team down like that, I thought that was impressive.
“He did a great job on the mound and he’s swinging the bat real well as well.”
Overall, the Gents banged out seven hits with three going for extra bases.
Broussard was the only Gent with multiple hits. Mouton added a triple and two RBI, Ashby doubled and drove in one run and Daigle singled in a run. Doughty and Andre Larry each recorded a single as well.