The Franklinton Demons baseball team traveled to Belle Chasse to scrimmage the Cardinals in what turned out to be a spectacular game. Another extra twist was that the Demons head coach, Clay Tageant, and the Cardinals head coach, Evan Tageant, are brothers, as well as being the sons of former FHS head coach Jeff Tageant.
The Demons got on the board in the top of the first as JoJo Burkhalter singled to lead off the game and Kaden Breaux singled him in after he stole second. Da'Ron Sinceno then bunted Breaux over to third before Bryce Barber reached on an error that also scored a run. Cayman Pugh then doubled in Barber for a 3-0 lead after one inning.
In the second inning the Demons put runners on but didn’t score. The third inning saw Breaux reach on an error before Sinceno drew a walk. Dalton Freeman was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for Pugh. A wild pitch allowed a run before Pugh singled to load the bases again for Jordy Thomassen, who singled in a run. With the bases still loaded Parker DeCarlo drew a walk to plate a run for a 6-0 lead for the Demons after three innings.
In the fourth the Demons added three more runs as Ricky Songy led off with a single before Kaden Breaux reached on an error and Bryce Barber drove them both in with a single. After Freeman drew a walk, Barber stole home for a 9-0 Demons lead after three and a half innings.
The Cardinals added one in the bottom of the fourth and three more in the fifth to close the gap to 9-4 after five innings. The Cardinals added two more in the seventh and another two in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Demons lead down to a single run at 9-8. The Demons defense held off their opponent in the ninth and final inning to escape with a 9-8 "win" in the nine inning scrimmage.
Jojo Burkhalter and Kaedyn Jenkins each had three singles, Cayman Pugh had a double and a single, Bryce Barber had two singles and Jordy Thomassen, Kaden Breaux, Ricky Songy each had a single.
Ricky Songy started the game at pitcher and went three innings allowing two hits with three strikeouts. Thomassen went one inning with one hit and three walks. Kaedyn Jenkins went one inning with four hits, one walk and one strikeout. Barber went one inning with on walk and four strikeouts. Burkhalter went one with two walks and Pugh went one with two walks and a strikeout.
The Demons will be in action at Pine on February 6 in the jamboree and will have their regular season and home opener on February 9 against Kentwood.
