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The Morgan City 11-year-old All-Stars made a run at a World Series title Sunday at the Invitational 11U Ozone World Series but came up short in the finals, falling 11-1 in five innings to Columbia, Mississippi.
While Morgan City took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Columbia and its potent offense proved to be too much throughout the game.
Morgan City Coach Chase Pickens said even with adjustments to his defense, Columbia still was able to capitalize.
"I played a great team," he said. "What can you say?"
The final game was the third of the day for both teams as following pool play Friday and Saturday, teams played a single-elimination bracket play Sunday. The final day featured an hour-plus rain delay.
"Today was a grind," Pickens said of Sunday. "All of my pitchers threw strikes today. At the end, we're just running out of steam. We didn't have any more in the tank. My kids left every single bit out on the field today."
In the final game, Morgan City's run came after the squad loaded the bases with no outs following a walk to leadoff batter JaKavior Kemp, a Lucas Pickens bunt single, and Tate Fontenot was hit by a pitch.
After Columbia starting pitcher Owen Simmons recorded back-to-back strikeouts, Chaz' Pickens singled to centerfield to score Kemp for a 1-0 Morgan City lead.
In the bottom of the first, Columbia put on an impressive display with its bats.
With one out and a runner on first, Losca Buckley crushed a two-run home run not only just over the fence for Ozone play but also out of the larger fence behind it for a 2-1 Columbia lead.
Braylon Graham followed by ripping a single to the centerfield wall, while Simmons smashed a double off the leftfield wall of the Ozone fence that also nearly left the park for a 3-1 Columbia lead.
Columbia scored in every inning, adding a run in the second, two in the third, four in the fourth and one in the fifth to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule.
The game's final run came when Simmons singled to left field to drive home a run.
Morgan City was led offensively by Chaz' Pickens, who finished 1-for-2 with an RBI. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Lucas Pickens, 1-for-2 with a stolen base; and Landyn Ramagos, 1-for-2.
Chaz' Pickens suffered the loss. In 0.2 innings, he surrendered three runs (three earned) on four hits.
Simmons earned the win. In 4.2 innings, he surrendered one run (one earned) on four hits with four walks, two hit batters and seven strikeouts.
Offensively, Buckley led Columbia with a 2-for-2 performance with a home run, two RBIs and two runs. Other top Columbia offensive contributors were Simmons, 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a stolen base and a run; and Graham, 2-for-4, two RBIs and two runs.
Sunday's finale was the third game of the day for Morgan City in the single-elimination bracket.
Morgan City began the day with a 6-3 victory against East Montgomery County, Texas in a contest during which play was halted due to rain.
Morgan City then defeated Laurel Red of Mississippi 14-4 to advance to the finals.
Against East Montgomery County, JaKavior Kemp and Franco Saleme led Morgan City's offense. Kemp finished 1-for-1 with an RBI, a stolen base and a run, while Saleme was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Jackman Lind, 1-for-2, an RBI, two stolen bases and a run; Lucas Pickens, 1-for-2, an RBI; and Jamyre Bias and Bryan Cordero, each 1-for-2 with a stolen base and a run.
Lucas Pickens earned the win. In four innings, he surrendered three runs (none earned) on four hits with five walks and three strikeouts.
Against Laurel Red, Chaz' Pickens led Morgan City with a 2-for-2 performance with three RBIs, a stolen base and a run. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Tate Fontenot, 1-for-2, a double and two RBIs; Ramagos, an RBI, two stolen bases and two runs; and Conner Daigle and Saleme, each an RBI.
Fontenot earned the win. In three innings, he surrendered four runs (two earned) on two hits with four walks, two hit batters and four strikeouts.
Prior to bracket play, Morgan City competed in pool play where it finished 2-1.
The squad defeated Nacogdoches, Texas 6-5 and fell to Lauren Blue of Mississippi 7-3, both Friday, and defeated Lincoln County 10-0 Saturday.
Against Nacogdoches, Kemp led Morgan City with a 1-for-1 performance with a triple, three RBIs, a stolen base and a run. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Bias, 1-for-2, a triple and three RBIs; Cordero, 2-for-2, a stolen base and a run; and Lind, 1-for-2.
Ramagos, the third of four Morgan City pitchers, earned the win. In one inning, he surrendered one hit, one walk and fanned two.
Chaz' Pickens started the game for Morgan City, and in one inning, he surrendered three runs (three earned) on three hits with two walks.
Against Laurel Blue, Kemp led Morgan City with a 2-for-2 performance with four stolen bases and a run. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Ramagos, 1-for-2, an RBI; and Fontenot, 1-for-3, an RBI, two stolen bases and a run.
Cordero suffered the loss. In 0.2 innings, he surrendered four runs (none earned) on three hits with one strikeout.
Lind started the game for Morgan City, and in two innings, he surrendered one run (one unearned), no hits and hit one batter.
Against Lincoln County, Bias led Morgan City with a 1-for-2 performance with a double and a run. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were Fontenot, 1-for-1, an RBI and two runs; Cordero, 1-for-1, an RBI and a run; Lucas Pickens, an RBI, a stolen base and a run; and Daigle, an RBI.
Chaz' Pickens and Lind combined to toss a no-hitter. Pickens earned the win as he surrendered two walks and fanned one in three innings. In one inning of relief, Lind fanned one.

ST. GABRIEL — After escaping Hurricane Barry with minimal damage, the Louisiana sugar cane crop seems to be on track for another successful harvest.
Barry, a Category 1 hurricane that made landfall July 13 near Vermilion Bay, delivered anywhere from 3 to 14 inches of rain across the sugar cane belt in south Louisiana.
“We were pretty dry, so actually, people were looking for a little bit of rain,” said LSU AgCenter sugar cane specialist Kenneth Gravois.
While some cane in coastal areas remains under water that was pushed in by tidal surge, that water does not appear to be salty, and “we are hopeful that the problem is localized and not industry-wide,” he said. And because this year’s crop is a little shorter than usual, lodging and top breakage from storm winds were limited.
“It’s early in the tropical season, and we have a long way to go, but we dodged a major bullet,” Gravois said. “We do have some issues to deal with, but we think that with good weather, the crop will upright itself.”
Before the hurricane, 2019 sugar production was projected to hit 1.8 million tons — just under the 1.82 million-ton record set in 2017.
“We think that 1.8 million tons is still very attainable,” Gravois said.
He expects mills to open for processing around Sept. 17 — an early start date that is necessary because this year’s crop is large.
Gravois said the sugar cane belt has expanded by 10,000 to 12,000 acres, primarily on its western and northern fringes. Last year, total acreage in Louisiana was 459,217.
Good prices are drawing more people into the sugar cane business.
“The suspension agreements that are in place right now have really stabilized the market,” Gravois said, referring to measures implemented to prevent Mexico from “dumping” sugar in the U.S. “Sugarcane is also a very resilient crop, so it can take these weather conditions. We don’t see a lot of fluctuations in our yields compared to other crops.”
Farmers also are reaping the benefits of productive, sturdy sugar cane varieties developed through cooperative efforts of the AgCenter, U.S. Department of Agriculture and American Sugar Cane League.
At a Wednesday field day at the AgCenter Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel, scientists announced two new varieties have been approved for commercial release: L 12-201 and Ho 12-615. Both have high sugar yield — a main objective of the breeding program.
Currently, an older variety called L 01-299 accounts for about half of Louisiana sugarcane acreage. “Anytime we get new varieties that allow us to diversify our variety mix” is cause for excitement, Gravois said.
“There’s an advantage to having varieties with different characteristics and different strengths on your farm,” explained AgCenter sugarcane breeder Michael Pontif.
A farm planted with just one variety could be wiped out if stricken by a disease or insect the variety cannot tolerate, Pontif said. That would lead to a major profit loss.
It takes about 12 years to develop a new sugarcane variety.
“It’s a long process,” Pontif said, that begins with single plants being selected for desirable traits. Years later, prospective varieties are planted in 12 locations to test how they stand up to various conditions.
“Once they make it that far, that’s really the telltale sign that they’re going to be able to make it through and become a commercial variety,” Pontif said.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL
Enrichment Seminar at New Mt. Esther Baptist Church, 1211 James St., Siracusa Subdivision, Morgan City, 9-11:30 a.m. July 27. Free breakfast served. Classes: health and fitness, coping with teens, scholarship resources, how to strengthen your faith, financial planning and social media. Teche Action Clinic on site to provide info on Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Health Care. For info call the Rev. Dr. Charles Oatis Sr., 225-315-7097.

NEW ZORAH
Baptist Church, 604 Julia St., Morgan City, celebrating its Choir Anniversary at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 28, with various choirs and gospel groups. Public invited.

FAMILY & FRIENDS
Day at New Mt. Esther Baptist Church, 1211 James St., Siracusa Subdivision, Morgan City, 5 p.m. July 28. Guest speaker Bishop Robert J. Taylor, Greater North Shore Full Gospel Baptist Church, Slidell. Also holding a back-to-school giveaway, discipleship graduation and more. Casual attire. Public invited.