By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. Charles coach Paul Waguespack said before his Comets’ bi-district playoff opener Thursday that No. 32 Mamou was no great reward for earning the top seed in Class 3A, a much better team than its seed would indicate.

Indeed, Mamou never went away, the outcome in doubt for all seven innings. But St. Charles advanced to the regional round with a 5-3 victory at Comet Field.

SCC will travel to face No. 17 DeQuincy in the regional round. DeQuincy (20-8) defeated Mangham in the bi-district round, 4-1.

Mamou battled injuries early in the season to start 2-9, but entered the playoffs winners of 12 of their last 16.

But the Comets remain hot, now winners of 18 of their last 19.

Cody McMurray (6-2) and Henri Faucheux combined to hold Mamou to only one hit, but it took advantage of some Comet mistakes to cut into what began as a 4-0 lead.

St. Charles (29-5) broke a scoreless tie in the second inning after Nick Reine and Jared Keating each with one out.

LaJaylin Smith (running for Reine) and Keating scored when Shane McNeil reached on an error. Cody McMurray grounded out but collected an RBI to make it 3-0.

In the third inning, Brandon Becker’s solo blast made it 4-0.

In the fourth, an RBI double by the Green Demons (14-15) cut the SCC lead to 4-1.

Then in the sixth, Mamou added two more runs via walks and Comet errors to cut the lead to one.

SCC added an insurance run in the seventh on Henri Faucheux’s RBI single.