The Bogalusa Little League 13-14 year old All-Stars’ memorable season concluded at the Southwest Junior Baseball 2017 Regional Tournament in Santa Fe, N.M., earlier this month.
Bogalusa, which won the Junior League’s Louisiana championship team last month, suffered an 11-0 loss to East Texas in its opener and they came up short in the second game, 14-12, to host team New Mexico.
The All-Stars were limited to two hits in the first game, as Zantonio Peters and Cameron Frazier posted a hit each.
Bogalusa trailed early in the second game, but continually came back.
The team was down, 4-0, after the first inning, but chipped away at the lead. They trailed 4-2 after three and 6-3 after four.
Bogalusa held New Mexico scoreless in the fifth and then came back to tie the game in the bottom of the frame.
The game remained 6-6 until the sixth inning, when New Mexico tallied six runs to go up 12-6. Bogalusa kept coming back and responded with six of its own and the game was tied 12-12 through six innings.
But New Mexico scored the go-ahead and the insurance run in the seventh, before holding Bogalusa scoreless in the 14-12 final.
“The first game, my team really wasn’t in sync,” Bogalusa coach Roy Tillman said. “We came out flat and everything, but I told them not to worry about that — we’ve got to focus on game two. For game two, we came out ready to play. We made a few errors and everything, but they hung in and they gave it everything they had.
“But the crucial errors, they really killed us. I told them the whole year, three things will cost us the game — errors, walks and can’t hit the ball. For game two, they hit the ball like they couldn’t miss the ball.”
Tillman said he tips his hat to his team for the effort they gave him and he credits his coaching staff for doing a good job in preparing the team.
“I would also like to thank the supporters for the donations, especially our family that followed us all of the way to New Mexico,” Tillman said.
Tillman said it was a great season.
“The whole year, we did good,” Tillman said. “They came this year with their minds in the right place. Some things would fall down, but they always stuck to it. One thing we encouraged them to do is never to put their head down, but keep your head up and focus.
“Whatever we do, we’re going to win. If we lose, we’re going to lose as a team, but any game we play, when the dust clears, we’re going to win. Deep down in my heart, with the confidence I have in my teammates, they’re still winners.”
The team included Tajdry Forbes, Korterrius Mingo, Jarvis Dawson, Anthony Guy and Caston Bolton, Chance Turner, Brandon Jefferson, Jaylen Peters, Chris Green, Zantonio Peters, Cameron Frazier, Dallas Myres, John Foster and Isiah Bolton. Tillman was the head coach. His assistants were Jarvis Dawson, Gerald Jackson, Derolodi Bickham and Damien Robinson