Thomas Collins pitches for NISH

The New Iberia Senior High baseball team hasn’t had an easy schedule for the past month. District play for teams in District 3-5A is always a tense affair, with some of the best teams in the state fighting for just one chance at being crowned district champs. For the Yellow Jackets, who had played nine district games without a win, defeating Southside at home last week was a great accomplishment. Doing it again, this time at the Shark’s home field, was more than that.

The Yellow Jackets, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs last season, were looking unlikely to make a postseason appearance this year, but have rocketed up the power ratings and now sit as the unofficial No. 33 seed, just one spot away from the playoffs. Their away win against Southside was an important part of their late-season resurgence.

The Yellow Jackets took a narrow 1-0 lead over the Sharks in the first inning following an outfield fly from Darron Degeyter that allowed C Thomas to advance to home plate. The Sharks answered back in the third inning with two runs, followed by a fourth-inning that saw both teams score a run apiece.

As the game drew to a close, the Southside team held on to their narrow 3-2 lead. In the sixth inning, Darron Degeyter scored from a single hit by Drew Rogers. Kennedy Drexler immediately followed up with another run scored, this time from an outfield fly by Mason Meyers. The Yellow Jackets turned to pitcher Thomas Collins to lead the defensive stand, which was successful at picking up back-to-back shutout innings to secure the win.

Drew Rogers led the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with two RBIs. Darron Degeyter (two runs, one RBI), Mason Meyers (one RBI), and Evan Hebert (double, three total bases) also contributed to the win. Thomas Collins pitched all seven innings against Southside, throwing 56 strikes from 91 pitches with one strikeout and three batters walked.

The win moves NISH to a 13-18 (3-10) record this season, with just two remaining district games on the schedule.

The Yellow Jackets travel to Barbe on Monday before returning home on Wednesday to face the Buccaneers again for Senior Night. NISH will also travel to Hanson Memorial on Saturday for their final game of the regular season.