OSTERLAND, La. — First the Concordia Dixie Youth 10-year-old All-Stars saw an opportunity to 10-run rule the Monroe Nationals disappear. Then it looked like they were going to blow a commanding lead late in the game.

But an outstanding defensive play by second baseman Cameron King with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning preserved the Concordia 10s’ 10-8 win in the first round of the district tournament on a hot Sunday afternoon.

“The final inning we made a couple of errors that were routine plays. But we made a couple of good plays to get the last two outs,” Concordia 10s coach George Cupit said.

The Monroe Nationals had already scored five runs and had two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when the potential winning run hit a ground ball to King, who touched second base for the final out of the game.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Cupit said. “But the game should not have come down to that final at-bat in the first place.”

Concordia scored two runs in the top of the first inning, four in the top of the third and four in the top of the fourth to go up 10-0. King hit a three-run home run in the top of the third inning. He also had a double in the game and ended up going 4-for-4.

Lee Lancaster had given up one hit through three innings — a double in the bottom of the first inning — before running into a little trouble in the bottom of the fourth. All Lancaster had to do was keep the Monroe Nationals from scoring a single run and the game would be over. Instead, they tagged him for three runs on two hits.

Lancaster pitched all six innings for the Concordia 10s as he allowed eight runs on eight hits, struck out six and walked four.

“It was awesome. He pitched six innings in 93-degree heat. We couldn’t have won without him,” Cupit said. “Most 10-year-old kids can’t pitch three innings, two innings, much less six. He stepped up for us big time.”

Monroe Nationals starting pitcher J. Wier was saddled with the loss as he gave up two runs in the first two innings. Most of Concordia’s runs came of Cascio (no first name given) as he last just 1-2/3 innings. Mitchell relieved him and got the final out in the top of the fourth. Kender kept them alive as he pitched two shutout innings.

“We almost 10-run ruled them. Then they almost came back and beat us. We almost counted our chickens before they hatched,” Cupit said.

Landon Havard went 3-for-4, Lancaster helped his cause by going 2-for-4 and J.R. Davis was 2-for-2 for Concordia, which had 15 hits in the game. However, Cupit said he was not pleased with that.

“We usually hit the ball better than that. That’s our strong suit. We had a couple of kids (struggle) that normally go 3-for-4,” Cupit said.

The Concordia 10-year-old All-Stars don’t play again until Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they take on the winner of the Rayville-West Monroe game.