VIDALIA — Heavy hearts didn’t stop the Concordia 10-year-old All-Stars from laying a heavy load of runs on the Rayville All-Stars Saturday night.

After many on the team attended the funeral of Michael Cupit, father of outfielder Alden Cupit, Saturday morning, the Concordia 10s topped Rayville 14-4 in round one of the Louisiana Dixie Youth District 5 Tournament.

Head coach Christal McGlothin said her team showed a lot of resiliency to play as well as they did given the off-the-field circumstances.

“They’re just strong-willed,” McGlothin said. “They wanted to win, and they worked really hard. It’s been a long three weeks, and this week has been really long.”

Concordia got off to a fast start by scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. The 10s wouldn’t score against until the top of the fourth, but a five-run top of the fourth gave Concordia a 9-0 lead.

With the bases loaded, Trey Gill went to first on catcher inference, scoring Tyson Jenkins from third base. Datyrus Martin and Jacob Hawkins both scored on bases-loaded walks, and a single by Cole McGivaren plated Gill. A walk by Quaveon Turner sent home Cooper Roach to round out the scoring.

Turner, who started the game for Concordia, pitched three scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth. He lost control of the strike zone, forcing McGlothin to send in Cooper as a reliever. Concordia gave up four runs in the bottom of the fourth before shutting Rayville down the rest of the way.

“Quaveon was lights out the first three innings,” McGlothin said. “We almost pulled him in the top of the fourth, but I didn’t want to change what was working (at the time). He got a little tired, and Cooper came in a did a good job considering the circumstances.”

The 10s’ bats picked their pitchers up right away in the top of the fifth. A double by Martin scored Jenkins, and Hawkins had an RBI single to make it 11-4 Concordia. Roach hit a two-run single to score Hawkins and Gill, and Roach later scored on a single by McGivaren.

Concordia prevented Rayville from scoring any more runs in the top of the sixth, forcing the game to end due to the 10-runs-after-four mercy rule.

Turner got the win, giving up four runs on two hits and six walks while striking out two. Roach had three walks and one strikeout. Due to Dixie Youth rules, Turner is unavailable today, since he pitched more than three innings.

Concordia will face the Monroe Americans at 5 p.m. today, and McGlothin said her outfield would likely get plenty of work.

“We watched them play at 1 (Saturday afternoon),” McGlothin said, “and they have some strong bats. We’re going to have to have a very strong outfield (today).”