LAPLACE — When St. Charles Catholic outfielder Dane Authement reached first base during a game a few years ago, Lutcher first baseman Jared Poche gave the freshman a funny look.

“Dang,” Poche said. “How many of you Authements are there?”

At the time, Dane was the third of the Authement family to have made it to first at some time or another. He let Poche know he would not be the last.

“There’s two more of us,” Dane said.

If you’ve lost count, that’s five boys, all the sons of Louis and Dana Authement of Luling, and all St. Charles Catholic Comets — well, baby Ayden, 11, will be eventually.

All have played football and baseball. All have worn the No. 7 on the football field and No. 1 on the diamond. All have made their marks on both fields and at the school.

“They’re just great kids,” said St. Charles baseball coach and defensive coordinator Wayne Stein, who has coached the first four in both sports. “They’re all tough-nosed, hard-working kids who were just a pleasure to coach.”

Stein and football coach Frank Monica said it was their pleasure to let the boys pass on their numbers.

“I asked them, ‘Wouldn’t you rather have your own number, your own identity?’ They said no, they wanted their brother’s number,” Monica said. “I don’t mind. It’s a legacy. They’ve worn the No. 7 for a long, long time. They’re all special athletes who aren’t afraid of hard work.”

It all started with Grant, the tough guy, who started at St. Charles in 2005. He was a free safety in football and an outfielder in baseball, graduating in 2010. Now 24, he is working in Buras as a hunting and fishing guide (and missed the family interview).

Next up was Ross, the emotional one, who played strong safety and had a brief stint with the baseball team. A starter on the 2011 football team, he is the only member of the family to win a state championship. Now 22, he works for the waterworks department in St. Charles Parish.

Dane followed, but took a little different path, playing wide receiver in football. He also was a senior center fielder on the 2016 Class 2A runner-up baseball team. Perhaps the best all-around athlete, according to his dad, he’s the cool dude; the one with style. He will attend Southeastern University in the fall.

That leads to Bryce, who just completed his freshman year. While he will follow the family tradition of playing defensive back in football, he is a promising young catcher on the baseball team. He’s also the honor student.

Then there’s Ayden, the baby in the family, who will close out the Authement line with the Class of 2022.

“I’m the mama’s boy,” he proclaims, without reservation.

“We were trying for a girl,” Dana said.

He just insured that the streak would continue a few more years.

“By the time he graduates, it will be 20 years of Authements at St. Charles,” Stein said. “If I last that long.”

He also has the biggest — or at least the most — shoes to fill.

“I’d hate to be him,” Ross said. “He has to follow all of us.”

Dane’s only advice: “Finish strong.”

Louis and Dana both stake their claims on their sons’ athletic prowess. He was a baseball, basketball and football star (quarterback, though) at E.D. White in Thibodaux. She was a Hahnville cheerleader. Both grew up with sisters.

Neither of them ever dreamed they would have five boys, much less five outstanding athletes.

Dana, who once peeled the cover of a baseball in her nervousness during a game, uses a planning calendar and different colored inks to keep track of all their schedules. Besides making sure they get where they need to be on time and that they each had their lucky shirts or shorts, she is meticulous about their uniforms.

“She’s outside in the middle of the night using a power washer to get the red dirt out,” Louis said.

She also is the calming influence after the games.

“After all the screaming and the yelling, we’d have to block it all out and we would have to come home and talk calm to her,” Ross said.

Louis, meanwhile, has kept a journal to record all of his sons’ accomplishments. He can tell you that Dane once went 27 for 27 on stolen bases, that Grant once stole five bases in a game, that Ayden hit 1.000 as an 8-year-old.

It’s also so he can continue to claim that none of his sons has surpassed his batting average of .462 as a player at E.D. White.

“It’s the only way to keep track of it all,” Louis said.

“There’s so much.”

Neither of them has a clue what they will do when it’s all over.

“When I die, I want to be buried in an aluminum coffin made out of recycled bleachers because that’s where I’ve spent most of my time,” Louis said.

“St. Charles Catholic has been the greatest thing that ever happened to this family.”