Coy Broussard of Erath connects with a pitch against Kaplan on Wednesday.

ERATH — Erath High freshman pitcher Seth Leger said he knew that he was going to throw a shutout when he took the mound against Vermilion Parish and District 6-3A rival Kaplan Wednesday in the district opener for both teams.

“I felt that I had a shutout in me,” Leger said. “I knew that I had my defense behind me and my pitchers were good.”

He came tantalizingly close to that shutout.

Leger pitcher 6 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball for the Bobcats but just missed a shutout as he gave up a two-run homer with one out in the top of the seventh. Those were the only runs the freshman gave up in the Bobcats’ 3-2 win over the Pirates.

“He gave up the homer but came right back and mowed down the last two batters,” Erath coach Jeremy Picard said. “He just pitched well all day and the defense behind him didn’t make mistakes and we got some big hits along the way as we opened district with a win.”

Erath scored a run in the third and two more on a hit from catcher Trevor Huval in the bottom of the sixth to put the Bobcats up 3-0 and held off a last-ditch effort from Kaplan in the top of the seventh to improve to 5-14 overall and 1-0 in district with the second game between the two rivals set for Thursday night.

“It was a big win for us to get back on the winning track and a great outing for our freshman. He’s going to be good for us for the next couple of years,” Picard said. “He’s been good for us all year long. At this point, freshman, sophomore, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a matter of trust and he;s the one we trust with the ball.

“It was the district opener and we gave him the ball and we played well behind him.”

Picard said that Leger didn’t deviate from what he was asked to do while on the mound.

“He pitched to contact, kept the ball low and the defense worked well behind him. He gave us a chance to win,” Picard said.

Leger said he knew that he could do something special on the mound and didn’t feel any pressure all night, even while the Bobcats held a 1-0 lead for the majority of the game.

“I knew it was a district game so I had to go out and do the best that I could to win,” Leger said. “I was planning to throw a shut out and did the best that I could but it is what it is. I really didn’t feel any pressure at all, even with the 1-0 lead

“But I did feel a little bit better when we scored those two runs and it was 3-0. This is a win that really boosts our confidence. We hadn’t been doing well lately so this one is going to get our confidence up and it will spur us to go on and win the district title.”

The other thing it did was keep Erath in the top half of the Class 3A power rankings.

Entering the game, the Bobcats were 14th in the power rankings, still in line for hosting a first round playoff game.

“That’s the team goal this year,” Picard said. “We’ve had a tough schedule to this point with the teams that we’ve played but I feel that it’s prepared us for district and the playoffs and we think we can get a first round game at home and maybe a second round series at home if we keep playing well.”