Townsend Homes blasts past Otto Candies, 7-3

Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 11, 2011

By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — It wasn’t the ideal start for Townsend Homes, not in the least.

It took only until the second pitch of the game for Hahnville-based Otto Candies to take a 1-0 lead on the St. Charles Catholic-based squad after Travis Faucheux hit a rocket over the centerfield wall. Things seemed to get worse for Townsend Homes when starter Chad McNeil couldn’t continue to throw after the first inning, having to leave the mound with arm soreness.

But just as they had in two previous local rivalry games, Townsend Homes overcame early adversity. Jeffrey Hall hit a home run and tallied three RBIs and Nick Montagut threw six innings of strong relief as Townsend captured a 7-5 come from behind victory at home in an American Legion Second District game.

Townsend Homes now stands at 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the Second District. For Otto Candies (5-1), the loss was its first of the summer.

After losing a pair of close games, Townsend Homes has bounced back to win two straight, also defeating Lutcher’s summer team Tuesday, 14-3.

“When things are going bad, they can go real bad. Monday was a bad day for us. But when they’re going good, everything seems to click,” said Townsend Homes coach Paul Waguespack. “Yesterday was another one. What I’m most proud of is that different guys are stepping up every day … we had to find some guys to step forward this summer and that’s exactly what’s happening. Things just tend to work out for us, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Townsend got rolling in the second inning, a frame in which it built a 4-1 lead. Otto Candies starter Taylor Joyce walked Luke Poche to put him on then hit Montagut to put two on with one out. He’d strike out Dylan Gilles, but David Bleakley came up with an RBI single that plated courtesy runner Brandon Zimmer to tie it up. Ross Authement walked, then courtesy runner Ahmani Martin scored on a passed ball as Hall was at the plate, making it 2-1. Hall stroked a double to score two, pushing the lead to 4-1 and chasing Joyce from the game in favor of reliever Jordan Harrell.

“You start walking guys, three, four batters in an inning, and that’s what you expect to happen,” said Otto Candies coach Kade Rogers.

Otto Candies fought back in the third, starting with a leadoff single to left by Faucheux. Tyler Simmons plated him with a double to deep left center. With two outs, Connor Lorio just missed tying the game with a double that banged off the fence , drawing Otto Candies within one, 4-3.

But Montagut (1-1) recorded the next four outs cleanly, and his team would reward him for it in the fourth by extending the lead. Gilles walked with one out and Bleakley knocked him home via a double. Then Hall stepped into the box and blew things wide open, smacking a ball that bounced off the top of the Comet Field fence and over for a two-run home run to make it 7-3.

For Hall, his two run producing hits on the day were his first since his home run in the opening game of the summer season against Reserve Post 159 (East St. John).

“Coach told me before the game, don’t go out and try to hit home runs,” said Hall. “Just go be Jeffery Hall. So I stayed within myself today, and it worked out.”

Otto Candies made a late push on a two-run Tyler Simmons home run in the seventh that drew the team within two, and an error and a walk brought the go-ahead run to the plate. But Montagut got a strikeout and a flyout to end things.

“We hit a couple of home runs today, but that’s not us,” said Rogers. “We hit doubles, we steal bases. It was just one of those days … we’ll bounce back. I’m still proud of the way we competed.”

Both teams made some notable defensive plays in the game. Townsend shortstop Macky Cortez’s leaping stab of a line drive over his head helped prevent a potential big inning with runners on second and third for Otto Candies in the second inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Faucheux’s diving catch in center field robbed Donnie Savoie of an RBI opportunity.

For Montagut, who is also hitting .600 this summer, his first victory impressed his coach.

“I can’t say enough about the job he did,” said Waguespack.

“He wasn’t expecting to pitch today, and when you aren’t expecting to pitch, it changes things. He came out here, took all the reps earlier in 7-on-7 (football), didn’t get a break … Chad didn’t feel right, and we didn’t want him to go out and try to be a hero and injure himself.”

Waguespack said that his message to Montagut was to simplify things and let everything fall as it may.

“Just go throw your fastball as hard as you can. Then, he was babying the curve a little too much. Throw that hard, too,” said Waguespack. “And all of a sudden, he’s just getting the job done. For a kid that was pressed into duty that wasn’t supposed to throw until Friday … he’s taking his opportunity this summer and running with it.”

In Townsend’s win over Lutcher’s summer team Tuesday, Cortez threw six innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out six.

“He was a pleasant surprise,” said Waguespack. “He threw well. Real, real, real well.”

He was also exceptional at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a grand slam to end the game by the 10-run rule.

Gilles hit a 3-run home run in the fifth to make it 9-3 and break things open.

Authement went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.