JOURNAL SPORTS
NEW ORLEANS — Kade Bryant woke up Tuesday in Natchitoches and laid his head on a pillow on the Northwestern State campus last night.
In between, the left-hander put Retif Oil’s bats to sleep in the semifinals of the state American Legion Baseball Tournament, firing a complete game two-hitter for the Bossier Phillies in a dominant 9-0 victory.
Bryant’s outing came after two weeks away from the ballclub. Following a beach trip ending June, he has just begun his time with the Northwestern baseball program, attending summer classes this month and working out with teammates. Demons’ coach Chris Bertrand excused him from a strength training session Tuesday so Bryant could start for the Phillies.
“He was able to get a ride on a private jet that one of his mom’s friends has,” said Bossier coach Dane Peavy. “He jetted down here, threw seven shutout innings, and jetted back. I’d say that’s a pretty good day for that guy.”
It helped keep the defending state champs perfect through four games in this summer’s tournament, sending them into championship play today at 4 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. Their opponent, the Southland Hogs, won 2-1 in eight innings Tuesday over the Crowley Millers 18 hours after losing 11-4 to the Phillies Monday night.
Bossier (18-2) is guaranteed two chances, if needed, to defend the state title and advance to the Mid-South Regional in Missouri Aug. 7-11, hoping to win there and return to the Legion World Series for a second year in a row. Southland must beat Bossier twice to prevail.
“We’re in a good spot. We want to get it done in seven innings (winning the 4 o’clock contest),” said Peavy. “I don’t want to go back out there for seven more. But we are in a good position, and our pitching is in a little better place than theirs, I believe.”
Bryant got plenty of run support Tuesday night. The Phillies rapped 10 hits, two apiece by Cole Snell, Brock Laird and Ty Boozer.
Snell, 6-for-6 in the last two games, clubbed a three-run homer in the fourth inning on the heels of Laird’s solo shot an inning before. Snell had an RBI double in the second and scored three runs.
His hot bat and baserunning has been impressive all season and especially in the state tournament.
“That guy’s really good. He sets the tone for our lineup at the leadoff spot. If he can get on 2-3 times a game, he’s at least gonna score 1-2 times,” said Peavy, who hopes to clinch the title today before dark.
“We feel pretty good about our lineup and our ability to score (Bossier has posted 43 runs in its four wins in New Orleans). If we can get a good pitching performance from Brody Bower, hopefully we can get it done,” said Peavy.