By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — The summer baseball season is an opportunity for players to assert themselves and push for key roles for the next prep season.

Monday saw Townsend Homes’ Mason Bordelon make quite the statement.

Bordelon pitched a complete eight inning game, notched the win, and came through with a walk-off game winning single as the St. Charles Catholic-based team defeated Brother Martin-based Peake BMW, 3-2, at Comet Field.

Bordelon’s base-hit came with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eight. He punched a ball into the deep middle of the infield, and there was no play to be made as Chad McNeil crossed home plate for the winning run.

“Everyone wants to be in that position,” said Bordelon. “The thrill, the excitement. You just want to get that hit to set it off.”

Luke Poche began the eighth by lacing a single to right, then McNeil bunted for a base hit. Brandon Zimmer then sacrifice bunted both over — through he almost reached when first baseman Jarett Gongora had to swipe-tag him while coming off the bag.

Peake intentionally walked Connor Western with one out to load the bases and set up a force-out everywhere. That brought up Kameron Keller, who began the day 3 for 3. Townsend went for a suicide squeeze, but pitcher Tyler Zamjahn made the play to force courtesy runner Jordan Favorite out at home.

“We were able to bunt and put the pressure on them in the eighth … (Zamjahn) made a heck of a play there,” said Townsend Homes coach Paul Waguespack.

But Bordelon came through on the next at-bat.

“Every at-bat before, he threw me a fastball and then a curve. So I was looking for the curve, and when he hung one, we won the game,” Bordelon said.

On the mound, the right-hander allowed five hits, walked three and struck out four.

The win broke a three-game losing streak for Townsend Homes (4-4). The team registered 13 hits to bust out of what had been an offensive slump, Townsend scoring a total of six runs over those contests.

Keller finished 3 for 4 while Dillan Gilles went 2 for 2 with a walk. Each collected an RBI. McNeil went 2 for 4 and scored two runs.

“We know its summer ball and we’re not practicing, but (with the recent struggles) we told them that we need them to put a little of their time in. Mason took it to heart, he stayed after our last game to hit Friday, came in early today. Dillan did that. Kameron did that. And there’s no doubt in my mind that their success today has a direct correlation to that work they’ve done,” Waguespack said.

Peake took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run home run by Owen Magee, blasting a pitch over the wall in right-center after Gongora reached on an error.

Townsend Homes chipped away, scoring its first run in the second on an RBI single by Keller after Zimmer beat out a throw for a leadoff infield single.

Gilles’ fourth inning RBI single to deep center tied the game scored McNeil, who doubled to lead off the inning.

Waguespack and assistant coach Wayne Stein have been hammering the importance of throwing strikes and staying ahead all season, and Bordelon’s showing on the mound was indicative: he threw an efficient 87 pitches through seven innings, allowing him to finish the game at under 100.

“I wasn’t tired at all. I could have gone a whole other game if (Waguespack) asked me to,” said Bordelon.

VALERO ST. CHARLES 2, TOWNSEND HOMES 0 — An RBI single by Jace Weber and an RBI double by Jesse Bryant was the difference in a 2-0 win for Destrehan-based Valero.

Bordelon collected two hits for Townsend Homes. McNeil started on the mound and allowed three hits in 5.2 innings.

PONSTEIN’S 4, TOWNSEND HOMES 3 — Christian Volloin’s two-run triple in the seventh inning lifted Holy Cross-based Ponstein’s to a 4-3 victory at Comet Field.

David Bleakley started and allowed five hits and two runs in 5.1 innings. Jon Brown took the loss in relief.

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