Pios cruise past VC in season opener

ABBEVILLE – Notre Dame senior Chase McBride had a solid outing on the mound and the Pios’ offense pounded out 11 hits Thursday in an 11-3 victory over Vermilion Catholic in the opening game of the Eagles’ tournament.
McBride worked the first 4 2/3 innings and limited the hosts to just one run on three hits. He struck out five and walked three before giving way to sophomore David Frank, who gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits
“Chase struggled a little bit with his command early as far as getting ahead in counts, but when you can keep your opponents from scoring... He really came out and gave us some real quality innings,” said ND coach Steve Soper. “That’s huge, especially at the beginning of a tournament, being able to have guys that are able to go deep into games is really a plus for us. Chase really competed his tail off out there and he threw outstanding.”
McBride threw four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth when he gave up a run on a double and a walk.
Frank gave up single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Both pitchers received more than enough run support from their offense, however.
The Pios led 2-0 after three innings before exploding for four runs in the fourth. Jacob Vicknair and Dillan Gilbert each had RBI doubles in the frame.
The Pios added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings and they scored three runs in the sixth.
“We swung it pretty decently, but we need to do a better job of moving runners along with quality at bats,” said Soper, whose team stranded 12 runners on the night. “But anytime that you can scratch together 11 runs on 11 hits, you have to be happy with that.”
The Pios got two hits each from Gilbert, Taylor Faulk and Pete Brown while Joe Faulk, Nick Hanks and Vicknair each had a double and an RBI. Sam Hoffpauir also doubled and Jacques Thibodeaux had a single in the winning effort.
The Pios also racked up six steals with Gilbert swiping three bags.
“I was really pleased with our base running,” said Soper. “We really did a good job of being aggressive on the bases, looking to take the extra base and beating balls out on the ground.”
The Eagles aided in the Pios’ onslaught with five errors. The Pios committed just one.
“We had one throwing error late in the game which was actually just a miscommunication but our defense played exceptionally well,” said Soper. “That can only help out our pitchers - knowing that our guys are going to make plays behind them. So I was very pleased with the defensive product that we had on the field.”
The Pios took on Oak Grove and Beau Chene Saturday to round out the tournament but results from those games were not available as of press time.