BY RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

Only four days away from setting foot on the field at Frasch Park in Sulphur, where it will attempt to defend its Class 3A state softball title, St. Charles was hard at work on the practice field Monday.

The Comets open the state tournament at noon on Friday against No. 8 seeded Catholic-New Iberia with a team that boasts many new faces from a year ago. Like the 2008 team, it’s a squad built on a foundation of pitching and defense. And like the 2008 team, this bunch earned the top seed in Class 3A.

But it’s also a team that SCC coach Ty Monica says carries an entirely different demeanor.

“This is an extremely, extremely loose team,” says St. Charles coach Ty Monica, after noting a stretch near the end of practice where he felt his team lost focus. “Last year’s team was very…I’d say uptight, in the sense that they were afraid to make a mistake.

“This one handles things differently in that regard. Whether that’s good or bad, I really don’t know.”

That’s not to say that the Comets (25-9-1) aren’t entering the postseason on a mission. It’s won six of its last seven games, and pitchers Courtney Western and Megan Louque shut out eight of the team’s last 11 opponents.

But getting to this point has been hard work for an SCC team that often made it look easy a year ago. Entering the season, the Comets lost six senior starters from the team that a year ago won the state championship on a seventh-inning, game-ending play at the plate — Jessie Braud’s score on a Courtney Western single.

By the regular season’s end, SCC maintained its standing as the team to beat in 3A.

“We lost a lot of starters that we’ve all played with since our freshman year,” said SCC senior shortstop Katie Reine. “We had to work extra hard. We learned to trust each other and became a team. I think we’ve come a very long way.”

Indeed, SCC has lost a few this season, almost all in extremely close, low scoring games. Two of those came within district, as they dropped a 1-0 decision at Brusly and fell 2-1 at Lutcher, denying them a second straight district crown. Of the Comets’ nine losses, six came by one run or less.

But not many of those have come lately, as SCC looks to be peaking.

“We’re finally meshing as a team,” said senior centerfielder Brooke Becker. “Our bats are starting to come around. Last year was a special year, but as seniors, it would be an extra special feeling for us to do what we did last year and go out with a state title.”

Monica said that despite a hectic day — between booking reservations, making an itinerary, and beginning to formulate gameplans for seven potential opponents, it’s a wonder coaches can find time for practice — his team had what he deemed a “decent” first day of work.

“We had a little spell where we lost our focus,” he said. “But we’ve got three more days to get it right. The hard part for them is maintaining focus for four days of straight practice and no games. But the truth is that the team that’s able to do that is more than likely going to be the team that wins it all.”

They won’t be the lone River Parish team making the trip.

In Class 5A, No. 3 seeded Hahnville (28-5-2) gets a quarterfinal meeting with Cinderella — No. 27 seeded Denham Springs (14-18), which has pulled upsets over Dominican and Airline en route to the third round. The Tigers finished 10-0 in a tough District 6-5A and are unbeaten in their last nine games after missing the postseason a year ago.

Lutcher (19-11-2) earned a No. 3 seed and has outscored Sacred Heart and Avoyelles by a combined 17-2 to earn a quarterfinal berth. Led by pitcher Sara Schexnayder, the Bulldogs will face No. 6 seeded Caldwell (25-8-1).

The District 9-3A champion, Lutcher fell in the quarterfinals at Sulphur last season. But two wins by the Bulldogs, coupled with two by SCC, would create a local showdown between the rival Comets and Bulldogs.

“You’d love to see that, always,” said Monica. “We like to brag that our district is the best in the state, but there’s no way of proving that until Sulphur. But of the eight remaining, we’ve got three teams in. And everyone but Brusly and ourselves won their district.”

That would be a sight to behold — and after the heartstopping title win of a season ago, the Comets do have a tough act to follow.

They seem up to the challenge.

“You can’t really top it,” said senior third baseman Emily Bourgeois. “But it helps that we’ve been in those situations in the past. We know what it takes to win. I don’t think we can top what we did last year, but we can keep making more memories for ourselves and each other.”