NISH coach Kyle Seibold broke out a bag of “magic beans,” also known as Skittles candies, and the Yellow Jackets rallied twice to beat St. Michael’s 14-10 Saturday in the Tabasco NISH Challenge baseball tournament.
St. Michael, the defending tournament champion, scored six runs in the top of the first inning with the aid of five hits and two NISH errors. New Iberia cut its deficit in half with three runs in the bottom of the inning, then surged ahead with four runs in the third inning and three in the fourth.
  
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“We challenged them at the beginning of the game to win every pitch, win every inning and win the game,” said Seibold. “The first inning was a microcosm of our season. (A couple of errors) opened the floodgate. We told them to chip away, just try to cut it in half, and we cut it exactly in half.
“The bottom line is, I think the character of our kids has been to never quit. We had so many comebacks from big deficits last year, and I think that’s carried over some to this year.”
And whether those magic hitting beans gave NISH confidence or something else, Seibold will take it.
“We tried to come up with something” to help the players at the plate, he said. “If they believe it’s magic beans, that’s fine.”
Things didn’t look good for the Jackets to start the game as starting pitcher Jordan Derouen gave up a three-run homer to Taylor Smith and a two-run shot to Seth Hartley, and NISH had two throwing errors to help the Warriors take a 6-0 lead. St. Michael’s sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning.
But Stefan Lopez led off the bottom of the inning with a single, Brennan Lasseigne walked and a wild pitch advanced both runners. Michael Lamothe fought off a two-strike pitch for an opposite-field single to bring in both runners, and after two more walks loaded the bases, Ryan Clement hit a foul fly ball that was caught for a sacrifice fly that allowed Lamothe to score the Jackets’ third run.
In the third, Thomas Smith was hit by a pitch and scored on a two-out opposite field double by Clement over the glove of diving right fielder Alex Granier. Bryce Sibille bunted for a single, and when the ball was thrown wildly past first base, Clement scored. Shawn Olivier followed with a double to right field to bring in Sibille and Lopez singled up the middle to give NISH the lead, 7-6.
Hartley, St. Michael’s starting pitcher, hit the first two batters of the fifth inning with pitches. A wild pitch advanced Derouen from second to third, and when Lamothe stole second on a swinging third strike, Derouen sprinted home on the throw to second base. Dylan Comeaux then hit a line-drive home run to right-center field to plate two more runs for a 10-6 NISH lead.
Greg Kelly answered in the top of the fifth with a leadoff home run. After one out, Taylor Smith drew a four-pitch walk where Derouen, catcher Dylan Comeaux and Seibold all thought the first three pitches were strikes.
That opened the floodgates, with Dustin Andry reaching on an error and Derouen throwing wildly to third on a pickoff to bring in another run. Hartley drew a walk and Luke Fielding doubled to right field to bring in the two runs that tied the game at 10-10 before Coby Landry came in to get two strikeouts to end the rally.
Kelly was 1-for-3 with the homer, two RBIs and two runs scored. Andry went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Taylor Smith was 1-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs and a run, and Hartley was 1-for-2 with a homer, two RBIs and a run.
“To be honest, (Derouen) got frustrated by the strike zone,” said Seibold. “I think the frustration finally got to him, of what I thought was an inconsistent strike zone.”
But Seibold said Derouen showed a lot about his character in the way he pitched after the first inning.
“I think the fact he kept battling and didn’t quit shows a lot about him,” said Seibold. “I could’ve easily gone out and got him (off the mound) in the first inning, but I have confidence in that kid.”
Derouen allowed 10 runs on eight hits with two walks and a hit batter. Landry closed out the game for the win, giving up one walk and striking out one in two-thirds of an inning.
Olivier led off the bottom half of the fifth with a base hit and Lasseigne drew a one-out walk. With two outs, Lamothe also drew a base on balls to load the bases, and Smith hit the third pitch he saw well over the fence near the 365-foot sign at the edge of the center field wall for the game-ending grand slam.
Lopez and Olivier each had two hits to pace the Yellow Jackets and each also had an RBI and scored a run. Lamothe went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs; Smith was 1-for-2 with the home run, four RBIs and two runs; Comeaux was 1-for-2 with a homer, two RBIs and a run; Clement was 1--for-2 with a double, an RBI and a run; and Sibille went 1-for-2 with a run. Lasseigne and Derouen also scored runs, giving everyone in the starting lineup at least one run scored.
New Iberia’s four extra-base hits pleased Seibold.
“We challenged them to have better at-bats,” the coach said. “We’re starting to stick more balls in the gaps. That’s a positive thing.”
Taylor Smith suffered the loss, allowing four runs on one hit with two walks and a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. Hartley gave up 10 runs on seven hits with three walks, three hit batters and a strikeout in 31⁄3 innings. Fielding pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing one hit and walking one.
NISH, which beat Opelousas Catholic 4-1 on Friday, improved to 8-8.
In other games Friday, Alexandria Senior High beat St. Michael’s 11-1 and St. Thomas More 5-4, and St. Michael’s beat OCHS 8-2. In the early game Saturday, STM beat St. Michael’s 12-2.
Reports from Saturday’s later games were not available by press time Saturday night for today’s Sunday Iberian.
Seibold said he thinks Saturday’s nine-hit performance could be what the Jackets need to get back in the swing of things offensively.
“I hope so,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming since we’ve had offensive momentum like this.”
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