J. EDMUND BARNES

PHOTO: Michael Bonura’s pitching is one of the reasons Cretin Homes is 9-1 overall. (Staff photo by J. Edmund Barnes) LAPLACE – A 9-1 start. Tied for first place in Second District Legion Baseball alongside Rummel and Shaw. No returning seniors. Practice is optional.What exactly is St. Charles Catholic based Cretin Homes doing? Aside from everything right? “We’re getting good clutch hitting and playing good defense,” said coach Paul Waguespack. “We’ve also cut our errors in half. Our ERA is 2.0. We’re scoring six runs a game.” All of that translates to is a lot of “W’s.” 13 of the past 15 games, to be exact. After finishing the prep season with a disappointing quarterfinal loss to Jennings and sending their seniors on to bigger and better things, St. Charles Catholic’s prep baseball program picked up right where the school year season had stopped. Coach Waguespack said that the Comets are using the summer as a stepping stone to the 2002 season. Their goal is to be in the top six teams in Second District. The top six teams have a chance to play in the playoffs. The two teams with the best records are automatically qualified, while the remaining four will vie against each other in a best of three match for the remaining two spots. The summer Comet’s path won’t be easy, though. Despite being rained out of two consecutive games against Lutcher High School based Golden Grove Truck Stop, the chances are very good that the two teams will meet again sometime next week to complete Thursday’s game, which was called at the top of the fifth inning due to lightning. After four innings, the game was still scoreless. St. Charles Catholic pitcher Jason Waguespack had thrown five strikeouts and allowed only four hits. Golden Grove pitcher Ryan St. Germain had thrown four strikeouts and allowed just two hits. Of the five batters who Waguespack allowed onto base, four managed to get into scoring position. But Waguespack was able to pull his team out of the hole they had dug themselves into. Golden Grove allowed only Chris Cancienne to advance into scoring position. Cancienne advanced to second on an error, but was thrown out at third by catcher Chris Guidry. In the coming weeks, the summer Comets will face Hannan, John Curtis, Chalmette and East Jefferson. “We’re not doing a thing different from prep,” said Coach Waguespack. “Maybe we’re more laid back. The kids are having fun. We’re not practicing, just playing. We’ve played enough to where we don’t have to (practice). We’re in uncharted territory right now. As long as we continue to play well we’ve got a chance to do something good here.” Coach Waguespack summed up his team’s summer philosophy: “Have fun. Play. Whatever happens, happens.” That sentiment was echoed by many of his players. Pitcher Mike Bonura described the summer season with one word: “Freestyling.” “We just relax and go out and play,” said center fielder Jason Rauch. “Hopefully all of it will just keep on going.”