By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Thanks to Donovan Duffy, St. Charles started strong. Thanks to D.J. Wesley, the Comets finished strong. And now, SCC is moving on to the regional round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

The No. 5 seeded Comets were 10-0 winners at home over Avoyelles by the 10-run rule on Thursday, and will advance to face the winner of No. 12 Marksville and No. 21 St. Louis.

Duffy retired the first three batters he faced, and as a result, he never trailed – the Comets (20-9-2)) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and scored at least one run in each of the next four innings.

Duffy (8-2) threw a two hitter, and was efficient all game long. He finished the game having thrown only 47 pitches – 36 for strikes. He didn’t walk a batter.

“I’m really proud of the effort from Donovan,” said St. Charles Coach Paul Waguespack. “47 pitches, that’s nothing but a bullpen for him.”

Said Duffy: “I just focused on every pitch. (The coaches) say that if I keep the ball down, I’m tough to hit.”

Duffy credited the defense behind him for giving him the confidence to throw strikes.

“The infield took away at least three hits. They allow me to go out and just pitch,” he said.

Wesley, meanwhile, wasted no time in sending the Comet faithful home happy when he led off in the bottom of the fifth. He hit a towering shot over the centerfield wall that gave St. Charles its tenth and final run of the game – and Wesley a walk-off home run in his first ever playoff start.

(See COMETS, Page 12A)

“It was a fastball down the pipe. Coach said to hit it, and so I did,” said Wesley, who was 3-for-3 in the game. “I didn’t think it was gone. I was just trying to get on base to lead off the inning.”

    Wesley wasn’t the only Comet to be perfect at the plate on Thursday. Marc Picciola went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a triple to help the Comet cause.

    He knocked in the game’s first run in the bottom of the first, doubling home Corey Reed to give SCC a 1-0 lead.

    In the second inning, Nick Reine’s RBI double brought home Wesley to make it 2-0. Shortly after, Alex Marse doubled to bring in another run, making it 3-0.

    An RBI single by Brandon Becker and a sacrifice fly by Jordan Millet made it 5-0 in the third inning.

    Marse and Picciola collected their second RBIs of the game in the fourth, while Reed and Jonathan Cancienne each notched his first to make it a four run inning, and make it 9-0.

    Then Wesley finished it off in the fifth.

    The Comets combined to get 12 hits off of Mustangs pitchers Mike Neal and LaDarius Duskin.

    Avoyelles (11-13) made two errors defensively in the game.

    “St. Charles hit the ball real well today, into the gaps,” said Mustangs Coach Joey Gauthier. “We made a few mistakes, and against a team like St. Charles, you can’t do it. They made us pay.”

    The Comets put major pressure on the Avoyelle defense via their usual aggressive baserunning, as well as serving sure the Mustangs defense steady diet of ground balls.

    “In our last game against South Lafourche, we hit too many fly balls,” said Waguespack. “We wanted to put pressure on them from the beginning.”