The Jena Giants had a busy week this past week as they played four more games in the week including picking up another District 2-3A victory over Marksville. The young Giants continue to battle and get better every week.
On Monday, March 30, the Giants would welcome the Pineville Rebels to town. The Giants would show grit and determination throughout the game, never giving up, despite being down. The Giants would erase a 4-run deficit and would use a big 5-run 6th inning to take the lead. The two teams would go into extra innings with Pineville escaping with a 9-8 victory.
The Giants would get a great pitching performance from freshman Bryce Thompson who pitched 5.1 innings giving up 5 runs with none earned and finishing with 5 strikeouts.
Carson Willis had a 2-run single. Trent Tingle had 2 RBIs. Colling Jensen, Carson Willis, Kayson Dean, and Quinton Otwell all had two hits in the game.
On Tuesday, March 31, the Giants would once again get another great pitching performance from a freshman. This time it was Quinton Otwell who pitched a complete game shutout against the Marksville Tigers in Marksville, only giving up 3 hits and finishing with 4 strikeouts.
Otwell would also go 3-4 at the plate with 3 RBIs. Kyler Chevallier, Elijah Gemar, and Jonathon Willis all had multi-hit games as the Giants finished with 11 runs on 13 hits to win the game 11-0 in 6 innings.
With the win over Marksville, the Giants are now 2-2 in District 2-3A play.
On Thursday, April 2, the Giants would welcome in one of the best teams in the state, the Benton Tigers, who are ranked in the top 5 in Division I Non-Select. Benton also lost in the semifinals last season.
Even though the Giants were overmatched, they never stopped battling in the game. Elijah Gemar would go 2-3 in the game including a solo homerun to left field. Kyler Chevallier and Collin Jensen both had RBIs as well. Benton would go on to win 18-4 in 6 innings.
On Saturday, April 4, the Giants would travel to Haughton, who came into the game with a 1612 record and ranked #19 in Division I Non-Select. The Giants would battle throughout but would come up short as Haughton would win 13-6.
Bryce Thompson would pitch 4.1 innings giving up 4 earned runs and finishing with 3 strikeouts. Elijah Gemar would hit another big homerun with a 3-run homerun. Carson Willis had 2 RBIs.
The Giants are now 15-15 on the season and ranked #15 in the Division III Non-Select power rankings. Their last regular season home game will be this Thursday as the Menard Eagles come to town. Game time is 6:00 p.m.
Everyone is encouraged to come out and cheer on the Giants as they finish up their regular season and get ready for the playoffs.
