METAIRIE, La. — In a back-and-forth game, it was Girard that came up with the big inning, eliminating Concordia from the Louisiana Dixie Youth 12-year-old State tournament with an 11-8 victory Monday night.

Girard held a slim 6-5 lead over Concordia before erupting for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull away.

Concordia came back with three runs in the top of the sixth inning, but it wasn’t enough to stave off elimination from the state tournament.

“It was just two good teams battling it out,” Concordia coach Whest Shirley said. “We got down early, then tied it up, then they pulled back ahead. We got back in the game with a couple of runs but they had the big inning. They just hit the ball a little better than we did.”

The Concordia offense was helped greatly by Jake Barlow and Jake Cooper, who both hit home runs.

Cooper also hit a double for Concordia, as did Drake Bergeron.

Cooper and Barlow both went 2-for-3 at the plate while Pate Shirley was 2-for-2 with two singles and a walk.

Even though they were eliminated from the state tournament, Whest Shirley said his team had nothing to feel bad about.

“I told the players they had nothing to be ashamed of,” Shirley said. “They played to the best of their abilities, but just came up a little short this year. We’ve got a good group of kids, and you will hear some of their names for the next four or five years.”