The Bogalusa 13-14 Little League All-Stars made history Wednesday in Alexandria.
For the first time ever, Bogalusa’s 13-14 year old All-Stars are the Junior League’s Louisiana champions.
The team capped off its title run Wednesday night and had a tough mountain to climb to win the double-elimination event that ran from July 7-12.
The first game was a 25-0 victory over Alexandria on July 7.
The coaching staff said it was a team effort for the win.
Bogalusa lost the next game 5-4 to Mid City from Lake Charles the following day.
The coaches credited Chance Turner on pitching a solid game. He struck out seven over 5-1/3 innings. They said the team made a few miscues that led to runs.
That put Bogalusa in the losers’ bracket, where they were just one loss from elimination. The task to win it all was tough, but Bogalusa was up to the challenge.
They rebounded that day by defeating Blanchard from Shreveport, 21-2.
The staff said it was a team effort and that several players pitched.
Bogalusa’s victory put them in the finals, but the loss to Mid City meant that Bogalusa needed to win twice over Mid City to capture the championship, while Mid City needed just one win for the title.
Things got even tougher in the first game of the finals.
Mid City took a 9-3 lead through three innings and it remained 9-3 after five.
The mountain climb to the championship was steeper, but with outstanding relief pitching by Jarvis Dawson, the team was able to hold Mid City’s lead to six.
Bogalusa broke through in a big way in the sixth inning, scoring five runs to trim it to 9-8. The All-Stars tallied twice more in the seventh for the 10-9 win.
Dawson took the mound in the third inning with one on, one out and a 2-0 count on the hitter.
Dawson ended up going the rest of the way and not allowing a run. He threw 4-2/3 innings of shutout ball and struck out seven.
In the title game Wednesday, Bogalusa took a 3-2 lead after the first inning. Mid City had the bases loaded twice, but never could take the lead.
Isiah Bolton took the mound in relief with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth with Bogalusa up, 7-6. He recorded a strikeout, followed by two fly outs to escape the jam.
Bogalusa put up the game’s final four runs in the sixth, highlighted by Dawson’s 3-run triple to the left centerfield gap that made it 11-6.
“It was a team effort,” Bogalusa head coach Roy Tillman said. “They always kept their heads up. They were determined to win. With me, coach Jarvis (Dawson) and coach Damien (Robinson), we made the game so easy to the players by being focused and concentrating.
“We let them know that if they kept their head up, they would win these games. We would like to give thanks to the parents for all of their support and for being strong throughout this tournament. We also thank the Bogalusa Little League and their staff for helping us and giving us the opportunity to be the best 13-14 in Bogalusa Little League.”
Up next for Bogalusa is a trip to the Southwest regionals. The tournament runs from Aug. 2-8 in Santa Fe, N.M. The tournament is double elimination and if Bogalusa wins, they will advance to the World Series, which takes place in Taylor, Mich. Bogalusa’s first game of the regional tournament is set for Aug. 3 at noon against East Texas.