Locals help LSU-Eunice to third national title

ENID, Oklahoma – LSU-Eunice defeated UConn Avery Point 10-2 to take the NJCAA National Championship.

Three Ascension Parish standouts were along for the ride:?Matt Richard and Dane Amedee of East Ascension and Micah  Gautreau of St. Amant.

Amedee, a sophomore left-handed pitcher, was a 28th round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers.

The championship marked the second in three years for the Bengals, and third in the past five years. The team won the title in 2006 and 2008, and have made three straight appearances in the NJCAA World Series.

“It’s always exciting to see that last out occur and see your team storm the field and dogpile,” LSU-E coach Jeff Willis said.

Chance Mistric (13-1) earned the win on the mound pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Mistric was named the Co-Outstanding pitcher of the tournament along with Brett Schulick from UConn. Jordan Bourque, Jacob Fisher, and Raph Rhymes were named to the All-tournament team while Gabriel Thibodeaux was named the tournament MVP.

The Bengals twice faced elimination in the double-elimination format, but bounced back in both games to get easy victories to advance to Saturday’s finals.

The Bengals (53-13) got all the runs they would need in the third inning when they pushed across three runs, all with two outs.