By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
LAPLACE – East St. John picked up its first District 8-5A victory of the season Tuesday and did it in dominating fashion, taking a 13-3 victory at home.
The game ended after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
Four different Wildcats registered two hits and at least four RBIs. Shawne Jackson went 2 for 3 with four RBIs to lead ESJ. Daniel Franklin and Ahmani Martin each went 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Parrish Williams went 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Darnell Lee picked up the win for East St. John with a strong complete game effort, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks. He struck out two.
“We came out and hit the ball,” said East St. John coach Shan Williams. “I feel like when it comes to standing in the box and swinging the bats, we stack up pretty well with anyone.
“But the difference here , when you look at it, was our pitching and defense. We walked just four and committed two errors. That’s cut way down from where we were a game before. That’s all I ask for as a coach, and when we do that, we stand a great chance of winning.”
East St. John (10-13, 1-3) scored four runs in each of the first and second innings and added five more in the third to take 13-3 lead and eventual victory.
Higgins dropped to 9-13, with a 1-5 mark in district play.
DESTREHAN 18, EAST ST. JOHN 11 – It was a wild game last Saturday as two rival Wildcat teams took the field at ESJ, with a seven-run surge over the final two innings lifting Destrehan to victory.
The game featured a combined 38 hits, 22 by East St. John and 16 by Destrehan. But ESJ pitchers walked nine DHS batters and hit six others, and the ESJ defense committed seven errors to just one for DHS to make up the difference.
“Walks and errors did us in,” said Shan Williams.  “We faced their number two, then their closer, and we hit the ball real well. We didn’t make plays in the field. There were a lot of two strike hit batters and two out errors.
“I don’t think there’s anyone we can’t hit against. Scoring 11 runs against the number two team in the state … I don’t know how many times they’ve had that done to them. But you can’t make costly errors, especially against a team like Destrehan.”
ESJ’s 11 runs was in fact the second highest total registered against Destrehan, behind a 12-run Dutchtown effort in DHS’ first tournament action of the season.  
Kade Granier went 4 for 6 with three RBIs to lead DHS at the plate. Blake Hymel went 3 for 6. Brock Benedetto had two hits and three RBIs.
For East St. John, Phil Adams and Shawne Jackson each collected four hits, going 4 for 5 and 4 for 4 respectively. Jackson picked up two RBIs. Ahmani Martin and Darnell Lee each went 3 for 5. Roshaud Taylor went 2 for 2 with four RBIs and Daniel Franklin went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
Destrehan led 5-4 entering the fifth inning.
ESJ starting pitcher Bruce Winn left the game after injuring his hamstring running out a ground ball, and DHS found success against the ESJ relievers, scoring six, four and three runs over the next three innings respectively.
DHS led 11-5 entering the bottom of the fifth, where ESJ scored four runs to pull within two again before DHS broke the game open.
The game was Destrehan’s 11th straight victory. DHS currently stands with a 24-3 record (4-0 in District 8-5A) and is ranked second in Class 5A in power points.