St. Martin rode a solid pitching performance and its strong defense to remain unbeaten.
The Yellow Jackets scored three runs in the third inning, beating D’Iberville 5-1 on Friday night at Les French Field.
St. Martin (4-0, 2-0 Division 7-6A) completed a regular-season sweep over the Warriors. The Yellow Jackets also beat D’Iberville 10-3 on Tuesday night.
“We did a lot of things well tonight,” Yellow Jackets coach Greg Williams said. “We turned a couple of double plays and we work on that.
“It’s nice to see kids catch on to what you’re trying to do. We scored enough runs to pull it out.”
The Yellow Jackets were led by their two top performers in third baseman Tyler Quave and pitcher Kyle Johnston.
Johnston won his first game of the season, pitching a complete game and scattering five hits. Quave, St. Martin’s ace pitcher, drove in two runs.
“The defense played well behind me,” Johnston said. “I’m not a pitcher who’s going to blow it by you. I need a good defense behind me to be effective.”
The Warriors had a chance to score the game’s first run in the second inning. Conner Kelly singled and advanced to third base on a Yellow Jacket fielding error.
Johnston then got Hunter Swanzy hit into an inning-ending double play.
St. Martin’s bats came alive in the third inning, scoring three runs to grab a 3-0 lead. Quave’s two-run double put the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard. Devin Bailey’s sacrifice fly was the other run in the inning.
The Warriors continued to battle and had chances in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
D’Iberville, though, had runners on first and second in the fourth. Johnston forced Jerrett Howard hit into an inning-ending double play, keeping the Warriors off the scoreboard.
D’Iberville loaded the bases in the fifth and the potential go-ahead run, Tyler Schanklin, at the plate with two outs. But Schanklin ended the Warriors’ threat with a fielder’s choice.
The Warriors finally cracked the scoreboard in the sixth, as Scoby Bender’s two-out RBI double closed the gap to 3-1.
With the game-tying run on second, Daniel Bird’s groundout ended the Warriors’ rally.
