LAPLACE — St. Charles Catholic baseball coach Wayne Stein looks forward to a well-matched best-of-three quarterfinal battle this weekend against three-time defending state champion Teurlings Catholic.

The No. 6 seed Comets advanced past regional play Saturday with a second win against No. 11 St. Michael the Archangel.

Stein said his team is familiar with the challenge that lies ahead.

“They’re the team that eliminated us last year in a three-game series,” Stein said. “We beat them on a Friday and lost a doubleheader on Saturday. We know what we’re getting into. We’re going face a team that has tremendous tradition. They’re as well coached a program as any in the state of Louisiana, including colleges if you ask me.”

Game one begins at 4 p.m. Friday on the Teurlings Catholic field. The second game picks up at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and a tiebreaker third game will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, if needed.

Headed by coach Mike Thibodeaux, Teurlings Catholic seeks to uphold its reputation as an Acadia region powerhouse with a fourth consecutive state championship.

The Teurlings Catholic Rebels return key players Peyton Lejeune and Dain Turner, but the season has not been all smooth sailing.

The Rebels’ 23-9 record is comparable to St. Charles’ 27-7 standing.

“Whoever is going to play the best is going to advance,” Stein said. “I think the match-up for both of us is pretty equal.”

Stein wants to see the Comets come out in a better mindset than they did on Friday against St. Michael the Archangel.

St. Charles trailed for most of the game before scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 7-4 win. Joe Chiarella had the first go-ahead hit, followed by RBI singles from Caleb St. Martin and then Bryce Authement.

Kaile Levantino went the distance at the mound for the victory.

“A lot of our struggles offensively had to do with St. Michael’s pitcher,” Stein said. “Defensively, I hope some of our struggles had to do with having some time off.”

Saturday was a different story, with the Comets building a steady lead throughout the game to take an 8-2 win.

Robby Gilbert led off the game in the first inning with a two-run homerun. Nick Lorio hit a homer near the end of the game, and the Comets had solid pitching from Caleb St. Martin and Justin Dumas.

If the Comets secure a win against Teurlings Catholic, they advance to a 7 p.m. May 9 semifinal against the winner of No. 7 E.D. White and No. 2 St. Thomas More.

The Division II state championship game begins at noon May 11 in Sulphur.