VIDALIA — The Concordia 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars had the bases loaded with two outs when Nick Melton came through with a three-run triple in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 5-4 win over the Jena All-Stars Sunday afternoon at the North Regional State Tournament at the Concordia Recreation District 3 Complex.

Jena appeared to have taken control of the ball game after scoring two runs in the top of the 10th to take a 4-2 lead.

Drake Smith started the bottom of the 10th with a single, but he was out on a fielder’s choice by Tristan Weatherly. After a strikeout for the second out of the frame, Javion Scott walked and Freddie Mango was hit by a pitch to load the bases. That set the stage for Melton, who cleared the bases with his three-bagger for the dramatic comeback victory.

“Nick hit the ball at the right time,” Concordia 11-12s head coach Rusty Smith said. “He drove it to right centerfield.”

Jena jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Smith had the last run-scoring hit until the 10th with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning. He went 2-for-4 as did winning pitcher Caden Poole, who had a double among his two hits. Poole also got the final out on a strikeout in the top of the 10th.

“It was a dogfight. It was 1-0, 2-0, 2-2. They had three good pitchers. We had three good pitchers. It was a pitchers’ duel,” Rusty Smith said. “It was a well-fought defensive game.”

Tanner Jenkins got the start for the Concordia 11-12s and went three innings. Weatherly came in and pitched four scoreless innings. Drake Smith went two and two-thirds innings and allowed Jena’s two runs in the top of the 10th before Poole came in.

The Concordia 11s and 12s take on the loser of the Girard/Ville Platte game today at 5 p.m.

Morehouse 9, Concordia 9-10s 4

VIDALIA — The Concordia 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars had a 3-1 lead over the Morehouse All-Stars through three and a half innings. And then they let it slip away in one costly half-inning.

Morehouse took advantage of four Concordia errors in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead for good as they handed the Concordia 9s and 10s their first loss of the North Regional Tournament Sunday night at the Concordia Recreation District 3 Complex.

“Four errors in the bottom of the fourth cost us the game,” Concordia 9-10s head coach Shaun McDonald said.

Sam Mosby took the loss after allowing six runs, two earned, on nine hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts. Eli Brown pitched the final one and two-thirds innings and gave up three runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout.

Rhet McDonald and Caleb Smith each went 2-for-3 and B.J. Knight had a double.

The Concordia 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars take on Winnsboro today at 5 p.m.

Ruston 12, Concordia 14s 10

SULPHUR, La. — The Concordia 14-year-old All-Stars hit the ball well enough to defeat the Ruston All-Stars in an elimination game Sunday afternoon at the state tournament.

But once again miscues in the field and not getting the key hit with runners on base proved to be their downfall as the Concordia 14s were eliminated from the tournament after losing a tough game to Ruston.

“Same thing that been affecting us the whole tournament — errors,” Concordia 14s head coach James Thomas said. “You can’t give them four, five, and six outs an inning and win. We left runners on base several innings. We couldn’t seem to get the hit when we needed it.”

Ruston jumped out to a 4-0 lead off Concordia starting pitcher Ron Williams, who didn’t make it out of the first inning. Williams only lasted one-third of an inning and gave up four runs on two hits and three walks. Jacob Wilson came in and not only got the final two outs of the inning, but pitched deep into the sixth inning.

The Concordia 14s even gave him the lead when they scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning for a 7-4 lead. Unfortunately, that lead would not last very long and Wilson was eventually charged with the loss. He allowed eight runs on five hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts.

The inability to bring in runners in scoring position kept the Concordia 14s from having some big innings. The second inning was the only one in which they scored more than one run.

“We never gave up. We kept getting after it,” Thomas said.

Pate Shirley relieved Wilson and held Ruston to one hit with one strikeout in one and one-third innings. Shirley also went 2-for-4 with one of Concordia’s three triples.

J.J. Jenkins went 2-for-3 with a triple and Dylan Maynard was 3-for-5 with a triple. Sam Parker was 3-for-3 with a double and Craig Bradley was 3-for-5.