JONESVILLE, La. &045; When Robby Dearing gets nervous, his asthma acts up.

It got so bad during the early part of Tuesday’s game that head coach John Moroni had to call time and bring an inhaler out to the mound to settle him down.

If that was the difference, it sure worked like magic.

Dearing went the distance for South Franklin in a 6-4 win over Ferriday at the Minor League Sub-district tournament to advance to the championship round and eliminate Ferriday.

&uot;He’s got chronic asthma,&uot; Moroni said. &uot;He can’t breathe in the heat real well. I gave him that inhaler, and it kind of put some wind in him. I think it was kind of triggered by nerves. He knew how important this game was. That was the first time I ever had to give him an inhaler. Once he settled down, he was all right.&uot;

The big right-hander did enough in the late innings to silence a Ferriday team that had hit the ball almost the entire tournament, including the first three innings where it held a 4-2 lead. Dearing came back in the final three innings with his control, his last seven outs on strikeouts and allowing only one hit in the final three innings.

For Ferriday, it was another tough decision to take after playing so well. The game was a day removed from losing in the bottom of the sixth to Winnsboro after playing well enough to win.

&uot;We were doing our best,&uot; Ferriday head coach Ken Hedrick said. &uot;It just wasn’t with us. We had a few errors. I don’t think the kids can hang their heads about anything. They ought to be proud of themselves, and I’m proud of each and every one of them. They’re all All-Stars in my book, and the coaches have done a good job.&uot;

Ferriday couldn’t put the bat on the ball in the late innings after getting five hits in the first three innings. Dearing got into a bit of a jam in the fifth when he hit Ty Brown and walked Dillon Smith, and both runners moved up a bag on a double steal.

But Dearing got the next two batters to strike out and end the inning. In the sixth the first two batters struck out before Ian Black put in a little dinker behind third base for a single, but Dearing got the next hitter to strike out to end it.

&uot;We kind of figured out where they were in the box,&uot; Moroni said. &uot;They went to reaching for them, and he went to pitching to that spot. He’s kind of like a pitching machine. He’s only 9 years old, and we’ll have him next year. He’s really come through for us. He pitched a six-inning game. Not many kids can do that, and he pitched real well tonight.&uot;

Ferriday had a shot in the fourth when Hedrick got to third, but he was left stranded there. South Franklin answered with three in the fifth for Dearing to give him a two-run cushion to work with, and he didn’t need the inhaler after that.

&uot;That’s something, isn’t it?&uot; Ken Hedrick said. &uot;The big kid &045; he just did well. We thought he give out, but he kept on. He did a good job and hung in there tonight. You’ve got to give him credit.&uot;

South Franklin got after Smith on the mound in the fifth after he entered in relief of Layton Poole. Cole Ezell led off with a double, and Kody Beavers followed him with an infield single.

Ezell scored before pinch-hitter Hunter Jones lined one up the middle to score Beavers to give South Franklin at 5-4 lead. Mike Moroni later singled and came around to score on a wild pitch for the 6-4 lead.

Jones, however, got the last out on a strikeout and threw a scoreless sixth inning to finish out the inning.

&uot;He was throwing right down the pipe,&uot; John Moroni said. &uot;When you throw right down the middle, that’s batting practice. But I thought (Ferriday) played a good game, and I thought we played a good game.&uot;

Ferriday got hot at the plate off Dearing in the third with three runs to take the lead.

A walk, hit batter and a Sam Kirby single loaded the bases with one out, and Smith lined a grounder past the third baseman that scored Anthony Olds before Lucas Moroni threw out Dylan Jones at the plate for the second out.

Dearing hit Garrett Vinson with a pitch to load the bases again, and this time Poole came through with a single to score Kirby and Smith before Vinson was thrown out trying to reach third to end the inning.

Ferriday got its first run when Jared Hedrick lined a double off the fence in left center and later scored on Cole Cowan’s two-out single.