Belle Chasse tops MCHS, 4-3, in 11-inning thriller

No. 25 seed Morgan City gave No. 8 seed Belle Chasse all it wanted, but in the end, the Cardinals had a little bit more, avoiding an upset bid with a 4-3 victory in 11 innings in Class 4A bi-district action in Belle Chasse Monday.
With one out in the bottom of the 11th inning and Belle Chase trailing 3-2, the Cardinals’ Erin Ragas deposited a 2-1 pitch into right-centerfield for a two-run double to end a marathon game and lift Belle Chasse to a 4-3 victory.
"I told my guys to keep their heads up as this is a very emotional loss for us,” first-year Morgan City coach Joel Dagile told Nola.com/The Times Picayune. “It was an uphill battle for this team having different coaches every year, but all year long, we've stressed to this team that we just have to keep getting better.
“We tell them to trust their teammates, and I feel like we did that today,” Daigle added. “Sometimes you have to take what you want, and we failed to do that tonight. We had the opportunity to put this game away twice, and we couldn't do it, but I am extremely proud of how my guys battled."
While the game was low scoring, the teams had plenty of opportunities throughout as each team left 10 runners on base, including eight in scoring position.
Early on, Morgan City (15-20) had runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings but could not push a run across.
Belle Chasse (24-9), which stranded a runner a third in the second inning, finally got on board in the fourth when Rylan Thayer reached base on a two-out error and scored one batter later on Holden Dejean’s single to right field for a 1-0 Belle Chasse advantage.
The Tigers tied the game at 1 in the sixth when Ethan Nguyen, who led off the inning with a walk, eventually scored on a fielder’s choice.
Morgan City starting pitcher Logan Tingle retired the Cardinals in order in the next two innings, including striking out the side in the sixth inning, but Belle Chasse threatened to end the game in the bottom of the seventh. Dejean led off the inning with a double, but he was caught stealing for the inning’s third out.
The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth when Nguyen, who led off the inning with a walk, scored on Morrquise Charles’ double.
In the bottom of the eighth, Matt Barthelemy connected on a one-out double and scored two batters later with two outs on D’Angelo’s double to left field.
Morgan City stranded a runner at third base in the ninth, and Belle Chasse left runners on third base in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings.
Morgan City’s Alex Brocato, who singled to open the 11th, scored with two outs on Kade Dupre’s single to centerfield for a 3-2 Morgan City lead.
In the bottom of the 11th, Dejean walked, advanced to second on Isaac Phillips’ single, stole third base, and he and Phillips scored with one out on Ragas’ walk-off double to end the game.
Mark Plaisance earned the win in relief of Barthelemy. In four innings, Plaisance surrendered one run (one unearned) on three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
Barthelemy pitched the game’s first seven innings and surrendered two runs (one earned) on two hits with five walks, one hit batter and 10 strikeouts.
Barthelemy and Dejean led the Belle Chasse offense. Barthelemy finished 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and a run, while Dejean was 3-for-4 with a double, four stolen bases and a run. Other top Belle Chasse offensive contributors were: Phillips, 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run; Ragas, 1-for-3, a double and two RBIs; and D’Angelo, 1-for-3, a double, an RBI and a stolen base.
Chris Pitre, the final of three Morgan City pitchers, suffered the loss. In 0.1 innings, he surrendered one run (one earned) on two hits.
Tingle pitched the game’s first eight innings. He surrendered two runs (one earned) on eight hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts.
Charles pitched two innings and surrendered one run (one earned) on one hit with five walks and three strikeouts.
Offensively, Charles led Morgan City with a 2-for-4 performance with a double and an RBI. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Mitchell Mancuso, 1-for-5 with a double and an RBI, and Dupre, 1-for-5, an RBI.
Belle Chasse will continue postseason play this weekend when it meets the winner of No. 9 Benton and No. 24 Pearl River in a best-of-three series. Benton and Pearl River will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Benton.