By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles designated hitter Kerry Waguespack indicated that his team had two primary goals in mind when it stepped on the field to face Erath Tuesday: Score early, and score often.

Mission accomplished on that front. St. Charles scored six runs in the first inning and led 9-0 after three en route to a 10-1 victory in a Class 3A regional round playoff game.

“We felt like we needed to score as much as we could early. We knew they wouldn’t quit,” said Waguespack. “We just wanted to extend the inning. Nobody cares who gets the credit, just do what you need to do for the team.”

The second-seeded Comets advance and will host seventh-seeded E.D. White in the state quarterfinals for a chance to go to the Class 3A state baseball tournament. The District 7-3A co-champs split during the regular season.

The matchup Tuesday at Comet Field pitted two hot teams against one another. St. Charles (27-7-1) entered the playoffs having won 13 of its last 14, while Erath (18-11) was on a 12-2 run in its last 14 games.

St. Charles coach Paul Waguespack said he knew the Bobcats had resolve and would be a dangerous foe if the game stayed close.

“We saw them beat Jewel Sumner. They’re down 3-0, then they go up 5-3,” he said. “They went down 8-5, then it’s 8-8. They went down 10-8, and all of a sudden it’s 10-10. They don’t go away. They battle their butts off and they keep coming. We told our kids they wouldn’t roll over, and we didn’t lie to them.”  

St. Charles kept its roll going, and it started with the Comets’ first batter. Austin Weber singled to center, and after advancing on a Donnie Savoie ground out, Chad McNeil doubled him in to make it 1-0.

Macky Cortez singled, then stole second to place runners at second and third for Nick Montegut. Montegut flied out, and Erath looked to have caught Cortez leaning too far toward third. But an error on the throw to second allowed Cortez to get back and a run to score, making it 2-0.

The play could have ended the inning, and it proved to be critical. Jeffrey Hall walked, then Luke Poche did the same to force in SCC’s third run.

That was all for Erath starter Drew Primeaux, as Coy Clostio came on in relief. But Waguespack slapped a single up the middle to bring home two runs, making it 5-0. Then Weber collected his second single of the inning to push the lead to six.

SCC added three more runs in the third, despite Clostio retiring the first two batters. Poche singled, and courtesy runner Jordan Favorite stole second. Waguespack singled to right to plate his third RBI, making it 7-0. After a Weber single, Donnie Savoie collected one of his own to bring home two runs and make it 9-0.

A Poche sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 10-0 for St. Charles, but Erath staved off elimination by the 10-run rule with a rally in the fifth, scoring on a Aaron Greene single, a pair of walks and a hit batter.

Erath nearly repeated the feat in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs when Cole Bourque singled after consecutive walks. David Bleakley came on in relief of McNeil and allowed the single to Bourque, but helped SCC wriggle free by retiring two batters; a base running error by Erath accounted for the third out. In the seventh, Erath loaded the bases with two outs, but Bleakley got Jesse Jordan to ground out to end the game.

“That’s one thing that disappointed me. We relaxed up 9-0. We can’t relax,” said coach Waguespack.

“But I told my team, ‘Guys, I’m proud.’ We’re in the state quarterfinals. I can’t ask for more. We’ve just got to finish.”

That will certainly be true next round. St. Charles beat E.D. White, 3-2, two weeks ago in LaPlace, but fell a day later 10-1 at E.D. White.

“We know we’ve got them here, and we don’t want a repeat of what happened up there,” said Kerry Waguespack. “We’re looking to get back at them.

“It would be another step. We’re trying to make a run and to get a ring.”

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