Bears fall to the John Melvin Millers

Tuesday, April 1, 2025: Baseball 

Crowley, LA 

This afternoon, the Baton Bears traveled to Crowley, Louisiana, the Rice Capital of the World, to face off against the John Melvin Millers JV Team in the rubber match of their season series. Unfortunately, the Bears struggled in all aspects of the game and ultimately lost 14-8 to the Millers. 

The Millers opened the scoring by taking advantage of inconsistent starting pitching from the Bears. Grant Porche walked the first three batters, loading the bases. He managed to induce a ground ball for a double play, but a run scored on the play, giving the Millers a 1-0 lead after the first inning. 

The Bears tied the game in the second inning. Shawn Driggers reached base due to an error by the Millers, Hudson Heltz drew a walk, and Conner Kleinpeter hit a bloop single to left field, driving in Driggers. 

In the third inning, the Bears capitalized on back-to-back walks issued by the Millers' pitcher, loading the bases with Dillion Bird, Jackson Martin, and Brayden Bertucci. Aidan Machado then hit a single to right field, bringing Bird home. Jackson Martin scored on a passed ball, and Shawn Driggers drew a walk to reload the bases. Hudson Heltz grounded out to third, allowing Bertucci to score, and Machado scored on a dropped third strike and pass ball. In this inning, the Bears scored four runs to take a 5-1 lead. 

However, the Millers responded in the bottom of the third, capitalizing on further inconsistent pitching and a fielding error. They loaded the bases and scored a run on another walk, bringing in four runs overall to tie the game at 5-5. 

In the fourth inning, the Millers regained the lead, scoring four more runs to make it 9-5. The Bears managed to get a run back in the fifth, as Conner Kleinpeter drew a walk, advanced to third on an error by the Millers' pitcher, and scored on a wild pitch, trailing 9-6. 

The Millers added an insurance run in the sixth inning, increasing their lead to 10-6. They continued to build their advantage in the seventh, scoring four more runs and leading 14-6. 

In the eighth inning, the Bears mounted a rally. Kenneth Berard and Brayden Bertucci both drew walks, and Aidan Machado hit a single to load the bases again. Shawn Driggers drew a walk, scoring Berard, followed by a sacrifice fly from Jake Brouillette, which allowed Bertucci to tag up and score from third. The Bears scored two runs in this frame but still trailed 14-8. 

In the ninth, the Bears put two runners on base, with Cooper Martin walking and Kenneth Berard getting a single to right field. However, the Millers closed out the game with a strikeout and a double play, ending the Bears' hopes for a comeback. The final score was 14-8 in favor of the John Melvin Millers. 

Grant Porche started on the mound for the Bears, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing 5 runs (1 earned) on no hits, while walking 9 and striking out 3. Dylan Cedotal (1.1 innings), Tanner Cranford (1.0 inning), Joshua Jenson (1.0 inning), Jack Cowan (1.0 inning), and Jaxon Adams (1.0 inning) provided relief, with Cedotal credited with the loss. Trey Lagrange started for the Millers, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing 1 run (0 earned) on 2 hits and walking 2. 

John Melvin outhit Baton Rouge 11-5 and were credited with two errors, while the Bears had 1 error. 

Bears Highlights:  

Layne Swanson had 2 walks  

Peyton Chiasson had 1 walk  

Jackson Martin had 1 run and 2 walks. 

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

Cooper Martin had 1 walk  

Kenneth Berard went 1 for 2, with 1 run, and 1 walk  

Brayden Bertucci had 2 runs, and 2 walks  

Aidan Machado went 2 for 5, with 1 run  

Shawn Driggers had 1 run, and 2 walks  

Hudson Heltz had 1 walk  

Conner Kleinpeter went 1 for 2, with 1 run, and 1 walk  

Jake Brouillette had 1 sacrifice fly, with1 walk 

With this loss, the Bears' record fell to 4-28, while the Millers improved to 4-9 on the season. John Melvin leads the all-time series with 2 wins and 1 loss against Baton Rouge. 

Looking ahead, the Bears will continue conference play this weekend as they host the Nunez Pelicans for a three-game series starting April 5-6 at Pete Goldsby Field. 

 For more information on the Bears baseball team, follow us on Twitter at (@BRCC_Baseball) and on Instagram and Facebook at (BRCCAthletics).