By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE  — The top of the St. Charles Catholic order reigned in Friday’s opening round Class 3A playoff game between the Comets and Thomas Jefferson, with Kameron Keller and Dane Authement combining for four hits and five RBIs in a 7-0 victory at Comet Field.

The Comets advanced to the regional round, where SCC was set to face South Beauregard Tuesday, after press time. South Beauregard, the No. 7 seed in 3A, defeated No. 26 Baker 7-5 Friday to advance. 

Keller went 2 for 3 with three RBIs while Authement was 2 for 2 with two RBIs, helping give starting pitcher B.J. Waguespack all the help he needed. Waguespack (7-3) tossed a complete game shutout and two-hitter while striking out four. He also went 2 for 3 at the plate.

SCC (23-9) scored three runs in the second inning and scored at least one run in all but the fifth inning. 

“I was happy to see the consistency. We’ve kind of been hitting a lull (offensively) after scoring runs in the early innings,” said SCC coach Wayne Stein, who earned his first career playoff victory as a head coach. “We did a nice job maintaining our intensity throughout the entire game.”

It was the third game back for Authement after the centerfielder was sidelined for eight games due to injury. Keller and Authement are the Comets leadoff and two-hole hitters respectively. 

“You know when we lost Dane, we shifted Connor Western over into center and he can handle it. But it wasn’t just one move, it was more like five in terms of shifting guys into different positions on the field. We had to move everyone up one spot in the order. It took us out of our comfort zone. He’s back now and he’s hit the ground running. He hasn’t missed a beat.”

For Keller, it was more of the same, said Stein. 

“He’s our table setter. When he gets on base, we’re gonna score runs,” said Stein.

He said that getting off to a fast start was of heightened importance Friday. 

“With three runs in the second, we took control right away,” said Stein. “We knew Thomas Jefferson has a young team and they’ve got a lot of talent. We didn’t want to give them any confidence.”

Thomas Jefferson finished its season with a 16-7 record.