By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

SHREVEPORT — St. Charles Catholic’s quest to win a state baseball championship came to an end Monday in Shreveport, as Evangel scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to advance to the 3A state semifinals, a 2-0 quarterfinal winner over the Comets.

The Eagles’ Patrick Crouch doubled home Chance DeFriend to break a scoreless tie and plate the eventual game-winning run. 

The second-seeded Eagles are set to face sixth-seeded Brusly at 6 p.m. Friday in Sulphur. 

Evangel (23-8) used three pitchers in the game, the trio combining to hold SCC to just two hits on the day. It was the ninth time Evangel has shut out an opponent and the first time the Comets were shut out this season. SCC had scored 39 runs over its previous three contests. 

The Comets (24-10) were attempting to qualify for their first state tournament since 2009, where SCC finished as Class 3A runner-up, falling 4-3 to Parkview Baptist. 

“They kept us off balance with those three guys,” said St. Charles coach Wayne Stein. “We weren’t the same hitting team that I saw throughout the year. We had runners on in six of seven innings but we couldn’t get that timely hit, and it snowballed from early on.

“I hurt for these guys because I know how badly they wanted it. Maybe we wanted it too badly and put too much pressure on ourselves.”

A major turning point in the game came in the third inning, where the Comets appeared to have landed the first blow when Austin Weber was hit by a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded. 

But after an Evangel appeal, it was ruled the third base runner hadn’t touched home plate on the score and was ruled out, negating the run and ending the SCC threat.

Stein acknowledged the call represented a key point in the game, but was also adamant it wasn’t the ultimate deciding factor. 

“You can go back and look at that, but it wasn’t what lost the game,” said Stein. “We had multiple chances. I thought this would be two evenly matched teams out there and that proved correct. I thought that we played tight … Give Evangel credit. We didn’t make all the plays we needed to. They did.”

St. Charles starter Mason Bordelon took a tough loss after going 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five. 

“Mason pitched really well,” said Stein. “Evangel did a good job battling and getting his pitch count up.’

Stein said he was proud of the Comets’ play this season.

“There’s not a selfish guy on this entire team,” said Stein.