Dutchtown and Ascension Christian dealt first-round exits

Dutchtown headed into the playoffs hotter than any of their District 5-5A counterparts.

After starting the district schedule at 2-3 and staring down an 11-16 record, the Griffins caught fire and won five straight games to finish the regular season. Their final win was an impressive 8-2 road thrashing of parish rival St. Amant.

With the five-game tear, Dutchtown was able to work their way to the No. 28 seeding. It drew a tough first-round matchup on the road against the No. 5 seed and defending champion Barbe.

The Griffins continued their strong play early on against the Buccaneers.

After two scoreless innings, Nick Ourso and Caleb Ricca reached base for Dutchtown, and Brandt Fritsche sent them both home with a two-RBI single to give the Griffins a 2-0 third-inning lead.

That advantage was short-lived for the Griffins. In the bottom of the third, Barbe answered with two runs of their own to tie the game.

Heading into the fifth inning, the two teams were deadlocked at 2-2.

Tyler Boeding helped regain the lead for Dutchtown as he cranked out a two-RBI single.

But after taking the 4-2 advantage, it was all downhill for the Griffins.

The Buccaneers showed why they're the defending champs as they exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-4 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, they added four more runs to take a commanding 10-4 advantage into the final inning--an advantage they were able to ice away.

The loss was Dutchtown's second first-round exit in the past three years. The Griffins reached the quarterfinals last season before losing to St. Amant.

Dutchtown finished the year at 16-17.

Ascension Christian entered the playoffs with their share of struggles. The Lions looked to be in line for a home first-round game--especially after they beat Ascension Catholic, 3-1, in a pivotal district matchup.

However, Ascension Christian ended the regular season winning just two of their final seven games. One of their losses came to one of the weaker teams in their district in West St. John--a team they beat 11-1 earlier in the year.

The late-season woes dropped them to No. 22 in the seeding, but they still made the playoff field for the first time in three years.

It drew a road matchup in the first round with Ascension Episcopal. The Lions hung tough but in the end, they fell in the offensive slugfest, 13-10.

The defeat ended Ascension Christian's season at 12-10 overall.