Matt Vines

COUSHATTA – The taste of defeat.

Through its first 10 games, Red River baseball hadn’t experienced that feeling.

But when the Bulldogs (11-3) dropped three games to quality teams in the Erath Tournament, coach Todd Moore was wondering how his squad would handle the losses.

That question was answered clearly Tuesday when Red River silenced Class 4A power North DeSoto in a 3-0 win on the road.

“I was actually somewhat surprised and very pleased with the attitude and intensity our guys had Tuesday going into the North DeSoto game,” said Moore, who is in his first season at Red River. “I couldn’t be more proud of how the team responded to the three losses this past weekend.”

North DeSoto coach Bo Odom called Red River pitcher Tyler Hughes a “buzzsaw” as Hughes entered in the fourth inning with runners on second and third with no outs.

“Tyler came in and closed the door that inning and turned in one of the best high school pitching performances I have seen,” Moore said. “He finished the game with 11 strikeouts (of the 12 outs he recorded).

“(Starter) Ethan Williamson did a great job of keeping North DeSoto hitters off-balance before Hughes came in in the fourth.”

Williamson held North DeSoto scoreless as the starter, helped by Hughes’ heroics in the fourth inning.

Kenny Lazarus supplied a two-run double in the fifth inning, and John Dickey hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.

North DeSoto has reached the Division III Non-Select semifinals each of the past two seasons.

Red River has quality wins against teams like Choudrant, Doyline and Minden to name a few, but the North DeSoto win is in a different class.

It’s a rebound from the three losses this past weekend — a 9-2 loss to Covington, a 1-0 loss to Central Lafourche and a 5-0 loss to Lafayette Christian.

“We saw some really good competition from down south at the Erath Tournament,” Moore said. “While we would have liked to of grabbed at least one win, I think it helped our guys to see teams of this quality.”

Dickey returned to the mound after a two-week hiatus and battled Covington.

Aston Hester held Central Lafourche in check for most of the game, but the Bulldogs couldn’t generate any offense.

Trailing 5-0, Jaxun Moore held Lafayette Christian in check the remainder of the game, but hitting was again hard to come by.

Red River scored just two runs in the three weekend games combined.

The Bulldogs finish this week at North Webster before starting district play against Lakeview and Winnfield this coming week.