Mandeville sophomore Lee Batchelder hurled a complete-game, five-hitter Tuesday to carry the Skippers to a 4-2 district victory over the Covington Lions at Jimmy '��Doc'�� Davis Field.

Batchelder (4-1) threw 93 pitches to put the Skippers (16-11) at 8-6 in District 7-5A for a third-place tie with the Ponchatoula Green Wave.

Ponchatoula (18-11) downed Hammond, 8-1, Tuesday to force the tie. At press time, Ponchatoula won a coin toss and was scheduled to host the Skippers yesterday at Athletic Field to determine the third-place team for seeding purposes in the upcoming Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A state playoffs. The winner takes third place in district, while the other team will hope for a wild card berth into the playoffs.

Mandeville sophomore Lee Batchelder prepares to release a pitch in Tuesdays final District 7-5A game played at Jimmy '��Doc'�� Davis Field in Covington. Batchelder pitched a complete-game, five-hitter to carry the Skippers to a 4-2 victory. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)

Mandeville rode the arm of Batchelder, who showed composure in a key game with playoff implications. Batchelder, who was in control with the exception of the two solo homers, posted four strikeouts and only gave up one walk.

'��I felt really good. My curveball and changeup were working for me. I kind of hung a couple pitches on those homers. The hitters did their job and took them out,'�� Batchelder.

'��I was a little nervous at the start of the game. I'��m glad coach (Brown) showed confidence in me. We needed this win,'�� Batchelder added.

Mandeville coach Matt Brown showed lots of confidence in his sophomore, giving him the ball in a big game.

'��Lee did a very good job on the mound. He also pitched well in his last outing. He had five days of rest, so we gave him the ball, and he didn'��t let us down. He proved he could do it back-to-back,'�� Brown said.

Covington senior starter Stevie Sharp (6-5) gave it his all, going the distance and allowing four runs on nine hits. He gave up four of the hits in the Skippers'�� final at bat when they tallied two insurance runs in the top of the seventh. He struck out four, walked three and hit a batter.

Mandeville'��s Kody Keowen, 2-for-3 with two runs scored, drew a walk to open the game. Shortstop Garrett Cannizaro, 2-for-4, then singled to center. Jamie Bruno, 2-for-3, lined out to first base, and Cannizaro was doubled off at second. Ross Hardy reached on a fly ball that was dropped in center field, scoring Keowen with the first run of the game.

Keowen led off the third inning with a stand up double to left field. Following a ground out, Bruno laced a single to center field, moving Keowen to third. Hardy delivered an RBI sacrifice fly to left to plate Keowen for a 2-0 lead.

Covington senior third baseman Danny Dragon answered with a solo homer to left on a 1-0 pitch in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 2-1.

Mandeville gave Batchelder some breathing room, scoring two runs in the seventh while sending eight men to the plate. Keowen started the inning with a single, his second hit of the game. Cannizaro followed with a base hit to right. Covington issued an intentional pass to Bruno to load the bases, then Hardy hit into a fielder'��s choice to shortstop as the Lions'�� Brady King gunned out Keowen at the plate. James Winget hit a shot to short, which King made a diving stab of to force Hardy at second.

Cannizaro scored on the play to give the Skippers a 3-1 advantage. With two outs, Joey Pajares contributed an RBI single to left to score Bruno with the Skippers final run of the game.

Covington got on the board in the bottom of the seventh with Jeffry Joiner stroking a lead off solo homer. Batchelder settled down to retire the next three batters and record the complete-game victory.

Covington coach Jeff Dragg said his club had an up and down season, dropping their final five games in district play.

'��We'��ve been up and down all year. We went through periods where we were getting 10 or 11 hits, and then there were games where we would only get three or four hits. There was a lot of parity in our district. I guess you could say Northshore and Slidell were the top teams throughout district play,'�� Dragg said.

'��I was proud of our players the way they hung in there. I thought their pitcher (Batchelder) did a good job.'��

Dragg also praised Sharp'��s gutsy pitching performance.

'��Stevie struggled midway through the season, but he matured and was a good leader. He did a great job for us. He is a competitor, whether he has his best stuff or not. I thought he did a phenomenal job keeping Mandeville'��s talented lineup to four runs. He gave us a chance to win,'�� Dragg added.

'��I realized this could have been my last start so I gave it my best. I tip my hat to the Mandeville hitters. Their whole lineup is packed with sticks. Coach Dragg told us he wanted us to go out fighting. We didn'��t lay down. I felt we did a good job fighting the whole game,'�� Sharp said.