Bears swept by the East Central Warriors in Decatur

Friday, March 7, 2025: Baseball 

Decatur, MS  

The Baton Rouge Bears and the East Central Warriors faced off on the diamond this afternoon at Clark/Gay Baseball Complex, kicking off a three-game series. The Bears were swept by the Warriors in today's doubleheader, with scores of 9-7 and 11-1.  

Game One 

East Central opened the scoring in the second inning when Roque, who reached base on a double, scored on a sacrifice fly by Smith. The Bears quickly tied the game at 1-1 when Trent Laporte led off the third inning with a home run to left field. The Warriors regained the lead in the bottom of the third, making it 2-1.  

In the fifth inning, East Central scored three runs to extend their lead to 5-1. Two of these runs came from Rodgers, who hit a two-run homer to centerfield.  

The Bears responded in dramatic fashion, tying the game at five thanks to Aidan Machado's grand slam to left field. In that inning, Shawn Driggers led off with a walk but was out trying to advance to second on a fielder's choice hit by Jake Brouillette. Dillon Bird was then hit by a pitch, and Kenneth Berard drew a walk to load the bases for the Bears. Machado capitalized, hitting the grand slam that tied the game at 5.  

However, the Warriors bounced back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth to retake a 9-5 lead. In the top of the seventh inning, the Bears loaded the bases again thanks to back-to-back walks by Trent Laporte and Conner Kleinpeter, along with a single by Shawn Driggers. Jake Brouillette hit into a fielder's choice, allowing Laporte to score. Jackson Martin drew a walk to reload the bases, and Dillon Bird also walked, bringing Kleinpeter home. Unfortunately for the Bears, they hit into a double play, ending their rally and the game with the Warriors winning, 9-7.  

Cole Cranford started on the mound for the Bears, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing 5 runs on 9 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3. Tanner Cranford pitched 1 inning in relief, taking the loss after allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 3 walks and striking out 2. Cole Veroine pitched 2.1 innings in relief. For the Warriors, Byrson Goff earned the victory, pitching 6 innings, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits, while walking 4 and striking out 4.  

East Central outhit Baton Rouge 13 to 5, and the Bears committed 2 errors in the game.  

Bears Highlights: 

Jake Brouillette had 1 walk, 1 run, 1 RBI  

Dillion Bird went 1 for 2 with 1 run, 2 walks, and 1 RBI  

Aidan Machado went 1 for 4 with 1 run, 4 RBIs, and 1 grand slam  

Trent Laporte went 2 for 3 with 2 runs, 1 RBI, and 1 home run  

Conner Kleinpeter had 1 walk and 1 run  

Shawn Driggers went 1 for 3 with 1 walk 

Game Two 

The Bears struggled to contain the Warriors' potent offense, dropping game two of the doubleheader by a score of 11-1.  

East Central jumped out to a quick lead, scoring 3 runs in the first inning. They followed up with 4 runs in the third, 1 in the fourth, and 3 in the fifth, taking an 11-0 advantage over the Bears.  

Baton Rouge finally found some success at the plate in the seventh inning. Aidan Machado hit an infield single, Peyton Chiasson drew a walk, and Hudson Heltz was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Cooper Martin then hit into a fielder's choice, bringing Machado home—the Bears' only run of the game.  

Jayse Degruy started on the mound for the Bears and took the loss after pitching 3 innings, allowing 7 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits, with 4 walks and 1 strikeout. Tyler Ferguson pitched 1.2 innings and Joshua Jensen finished with 1.1 innings of relief. Chris Billingsley started for the Warriors, earning the victory after pitching 5 innings with no runs allowed, giving up just 1 hit while walking 1 and striking out 7.  

East Central outhit Baton Rouge 6 to 2, with the Bears committing 5 errors compared to 1 for East Central.  

Bears Highlights: 

Aidan Machado went 2 for 3 with 1 run  

Peyton Chiasson had 1 walk  

Cooper Martin had 1 RBI  

Shawn Driggers had 1 walk 

With these two losses, the Bears fell to 4-19, while the Warriors improved to 17-4. East Central now leads the all-time series record with 13 wins to 7 losses over Baton Rouge.  

The Bears will conclude their series with the East Central Warriors tomorrow, Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 1 PM at Clark/Gay Baseball Complex.

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