By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — You could say Wayne Stein is off to a fast start in his debut as St. Charles Catholic head baseball coach.

The Comets outscored their first five opponents 50-2 en route to an early 5-0 mark, sweeping four teams at their Comet Classic tournament and starting with a victory at the Trey Altick Classic in Monroe. 

While SCC’s early undefeated run ended with a loss in Monroe to Ouachita Christian Thursday night, Stein is understandably pleased to see his team firing on all cylinders early on.

St. Charles (5-1) bested Class 5A Haughton (2-3) 12-0 in its Monroe tourney opener on Thursday, winning in five innings because of the 10-run rule.

 Mason Bordelon earned the win on the mound, tossing a two-hitter in a complete game shutout. He struck out three. 

Austin Weber went 3 for 4 at the plate and collected three RBIs. Connor Western went 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Dane Authement and Connor Smith each earned two hits and an RBI.

“I’m excited at the way it’s started,” said Stein. “He’s gotten some good pitching, guys throwing strikes. We’ve got no dominant guy but a lot of guys throwing well. Our defense has been really solid too. Knock on wood, but I don’t think we’ve had an error yet on a ground ball.’

“And at the plate, we’ve cut down tremendously on our strikeouts. We only struck out eight times for the entire first tournament. So that’s kinda been the formula for a fast start.”

SCC fell 9 to 3 against Ouachita Christian (1-3) in the late game Thursday. 

“We faced a dominant guy on the mound,” said Stein. “Our streak came to an end. Even so, I saw some good things. They had a chance to 10-run rule us and we fought out of that, made some plays to stave it off. In the seventh, we loaded the bases and finally got their starter out the game and gave them reason to be a little nervous. So I was proud of that.”

Stein, a longtime assistant for former Comets head coach Paul Waguespack, stepped up to the head coaching job after Waguespack stepped down to take over the Comets’ basketball program. Waguespack remains on the baseball staff as Stein’s assistant. 

Stein said that off the field, he’s realized that there are adjustments to be made. On the field, the transition has been seamless, in large part, he said, due to having Waguespack and former Comets’ player Alex Marse as assistants.

“There are administrative things now that … I really think every assistant coach should have to spend a week as a head coach to understand,” said Stein. “It’s a juggling act.’

“On the other end of it, I’m blessed to have an assistant coach who has 315 wins as a head coach, who I can rely on to do things that other assistants wouldn’t. We’ve got a great young guy in Alex Marse who’s added a lot of energy. I feel like once the games start, it still feels like it’s been.”

 

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COMETS SWEEP ANNUAL ‘CLASSIC’ — St. Charles couldn’t have asked for a better debut weekend performance, going 4-0 while shutting out three teams and topping three local foes.

The Comets began the annual Comet Classic with a 5-0 win over Mandeville (2-4). Connor Smith went five shutout innings to earn the win, allowing three hits. Brandon Klibert pitched two scoreless, hitless innings in relief. 

Connor Western drove in three runs to lead SCC at the plate.

SCC faced rival Riverside (0-4) in its second game of the season, turning the Rebels back 13-2.

Eian Mitchell went 3 for 3 at the plate with three RBIs. Mason Bordelon also went 3 for 3 with an RBI of his own. Austin Weber was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. 

Mason Bordelon earned the win, going four innings and allowing one earned run, striking out five. Klibert closed things out with a scoreless inning in relief.

St. Charles bested defending Class 4A champion Lutcher (3-1) in its third game, 10-0.

B.J. Waguespack struck out seven over five innings and allowed one hit en route to earning the win. Colin Bosco pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Justin Ory and Weber each collected two hits and drove in a run. Western and Dane Authement each drove in two runs.

Finally, St. Charles closed things out with a 10-0 win over East St. John (0-2). 

Klibert and Bosco combined for a no-hit shutout. Klibert went four perfect innings before being lifted after hitting his pitch count, earning the win.

Kameron Keller went 2 for 5 with two RBIs. Bordelon drove in three runs, while Jon Brown went 2 for 3.