MANGHAM, La. — One year ago the Concordia Dixie Youth 11-year-old All-Stars faced the Monroe Americans in the state championship game with the Monroe Americans ending up victorious. The winning pitcher in that game was Oliver Campbell.

On Sunday afternoon, the same two teams faced each other again, albeit as 12-year-old All-Stars in the first round of the district tournament. And the Concordia 12-year-old All-Stars were looking to avenge last year’s tough loss.

Yet once again the pitcher they had to deal with was no other than Campbell. And once again he delivered as he didn’t give up a run until the top of the sixth inning and struck out 10 batters in a complete-game performance as the Monroe Americans held on for a 5-3 win.

Concordia 12-year-old All-Stars coach Whest Shirley said Campbell was the difference in the game and was the key to the Monroe Americans’ win.

“That’s the same kid we faced in the state championship game. He kept us off balance for five innings. He had a good curveball and slider,” Shirley said.

Nolan Parker got things going offensively for the Monroe Americans with a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the second inning. They scored two more runs in the bottom of the third and added another run in the bottom of the fifth.

Even though Kade Passman was the losing pitcher, Shirley said he was pleased with his performance on the mound against a good-hitting team.

“He did good. It was hot. We pulled him in the fourth. He said his arm started to hurt him,” Shirley said.

Passman allowed four runs on five hits, struck out three, walked three and hit one batter in four innings.

The Concordia 12s finally got to Campbell in the top of the sixth. Drake Bergeron blasted the first pitch he saw from Campbell over the wall in left field for a solo home run. Concordia scored two more runs, including an RBI double by Pate Shirley to make it a 5-3 game. But Campbell settled down and struck out the next two batters to end the game.

“Drake’s our No. 9 hitter. After his home run, Tyler Cothern had a single. Jake Barlow had a single. Pate hit his double. Then we had a couple of strikeouts. After that, we couldn’t do anything,” coach Shirley said. “We waited too long to hit the ball. You can’t do that against a quality team like Monroe (Americans).”

Shirley added that his team could face the Monroe Americans again if it will hit the ball better than it has, and that goes back to the sub-district tournament.

“We’ve just yet to hit the baseball. You’ve got to be consistent. If you hold someone to five runs, you should be scoring 10, 15 runs,” Shirley said.

The Concordia Dixie Youth 12-year-old All-Stars will take on the loser of the Morehouse-West Carroll game today at 8 p.m.