By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — A loaded Class 3A field of teams left the LSWA All-State team as a tough cookie to crack, but St. Charles Catholic was well-represented with the inclusion of baseball standout Connor Western and softball standout Emily Triche.

B.J. Waguespack, Mason Bordelon and Kameron Keller all earned baseball honorable mention for the Comets.

For Western, the honor adds an exclamation point on a senior season that saw him not only reclaim the starting job he lost as a junior but evolve into one of the state’s most dangerous hitters. The outfielder hit .416, collecting hits in 28 out of SCC’s 34 games, and drove in a team-high 32 runs while scoring 21 more.

“All of the credit goes to him,” St. Charles baseball coach Wayne Stein said. “He could have very easily given up. A lot of kids quit in that situation. They can’t take it. You kept waiting for his bat to calm down even a little bit and he just kept hitting. He’s a special kid and he comes from a family of great people. His mom and dad have done a lot for our program. His sister was one of the best pitchers in school history. He had a lot to live up to and he more than proved himself.”

Stein said Western completely rebuilt his swing from 2013.

“He brought a lot of intensity,” Stein said. “We were just able to count on him all year long.”

Triche wrapped up a Comets career that saw her start for four years at shortstop. As a senior, she hit leadoff for SCC and did a fine job of it: she hit .590 and posted a .699 on-base percentage. Triche scored 40 runs and drove in 28 more.

“When you look at what she did, her experience had a lot to do with it,” said SCC softball coach Ty Monica. “When we sent our ninth batter up there, her job was to get Emily up to bat. It was almost always for a good reason, she’d make sure of that. She’s very confident at the plate and it showed.”

Monica noted Triche’s ability to get on base was uncommonly good.

“When you see a number like that, .699, that’s something you usually only see when someone has just a handful of at-bats, not someone that played for an entire season,” he said. “She drew 40 walks, which was twice as many as anyone else we had. She knew her job was to get on and she always did.”