Lucas Aucoin threw 25 strikes against Sulphur.

The New Iberia Senior High School baseball team suffered a second loss to district rival Sulphur on Monday, losing 15-5 to the Tors following a disastrous eight run first inning.

The Yellow Jackets were able to battle back, scoring runs in the second, third, and fourth innings to close the gap, but were unable to silence the dynamic Sulphur offense, who scored 4 runs in the fourth inning to secure the win.

Luke Landry (one run, one RBI), James Desormeaux (one run, one RBI), Darron Degeyter, Christian Thomas (one run, one RBI), and Evan Hebert (one run, one RBI) each hit a double against Sulphur, but the offensive performance was offset by a poor display from NISH’s three pitchers.

Thomas Collins started the game on the mound for the Yellow Jackets but was replaced after seven batters with the score already 4-0. Lucas Aucoin was brought in to steady the team, which he managed to do despite struggling to dial in his early pitches. Cedric Moore finished the game for NISH, throwing 18 strikes from 33 pitches with one strikeout.

Head coach Eli Lewellyn said that despite the team’s performance in the first inning, the game was the first time in a while that they were able to string together base hits.

“The first Comeaux game, we strung together several hits throughout the lineup, and this is the first time offensively in the district season that we’ve put together multiple base hits back to back,” he said. “Unfortunately for us, it’s hard to overcome an 8-0 deficit in the first inning. Our guys could’ve easily just rolled over, but I’m proud of them for not doing that. After that deficit happened, we made most of the routine plays and gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game. I am happy about that, but it’s never a good feeling to lose a baseball game. My mindset as a coach is that if we’re learning lessons and making progress of some kind then it helps us move forward as a baseball program.”

Lewellyn said that Aucoin’s performance on the mound was solid despite him coming into the game when the team was struggling and giving up runs quickly.

“Once Lucas got settled in, I was happy with how he pitched,” he said. “The problem is that we have to be able to beat somebody when we are ahead in the count, and that’s true of Thomas (Collins) as well. There were several times throughout the game where we had 1-2 counts, 2-2 counts, and we either hit a batter or a pitch is put right over the plate and they hammer it. Sulphur, I give all the credit to them, they’re one of the top five teams in the state for a reason. They hit the ball really well, they pitch really well, they play good defense. Tonight the bats just took advantage of us missing too many spots.”

The Yellow Jackets, 11-18 (1-9) this season, will return to action on Thursday when they host district rival Southside at 6 p.m.

The Sharks have a 15-13 (4-5) record.