Golden Meadow-Fourchon Tarpon Rodeo succeeds in rebranding
July 8, 2015
Breaking: Port of Terrebonne loses appeal in case
July 8, 2015
With just one senior gone off a club that reached the Class 1A State Semifinals this past spring, Covenant Christian Academy baseball coach Joe Teuton had a pretty good hunch that his team would have a strong summer in Swampland competition.
It turns out that the coach’s premonition was spot-on.
The Lions walked out of the summer season as our area’s champions.
CCA-based BGC Services took home the Swampland Baseball League title this past week, scoring the school’s first-ever victory in the summer baseball season.
For the Lions, it was a dominant month. BCG Services finished the regular season 9-1-1 to earn the top seed in the playoffs, which were scheduled for two weeks ago at Berwick, but were rain-pushed to last Wednesday at Vandebilt Catholic.
While there, the team trumped the home-standing Terriers 2-1 in the Semifinals and then H.L. Bourgeois 9-1 in the finals to earn the title, which Teuton said is a “very big deal” for the upstart program that will be hungrily chasing the Class 1A State Championship in the Spring of 2016.
“We’re pleased,” Teuton said. “I think we were able to keep the ball rolling from what we accomplished in the high school season. With us just having one senior, we expected to have a good summer. We expected to have a chance to win the Swampland. So to actually do it is great. It’s the icing on the cake on what’s been a pretty good year for us. It’s a good barometer and measuring stick for us to see how we’d do against some of the 4A and 5A schools in our area.”
For BCG Services, it was pitching that sparked the dominant summer run.
The Lions rarely let up more than a few runs in a game – a recipe that allowed the team’s top hitters to swing freely without pressure.
In the two postseason games, that formula was on full-display, as the Lions’ arms stymied both the Terriers and Braves, allowing just two combined runs in the 14 innings the team played on the afternoon.
The one CCA senior Teuton mentioned is All-Everything outgoing pitcher and college signee Connor Bates, who graduated from the school in May and is headed to LSU-Eunice.
In his absence, BCG Services showed it still had plenty worthwhile arms to spare – a healthy staff that included hurlers like Ryan Boudreaux, Cullen Ledet and Logan Arceneaux – the three arms that the team used to power past the competition throughout the summer.
“We pitched beautifully all summer. We really did,” Teuton said. “Those three guys were all terrific, and they really gave us a chance to win every game. We had a luxury in that we never had to score more than two or three runs a game, because those guys on the mound really kept the other team in check. That’s a big advance, and our guys offensively got some clutch hits when it counted. That’s what pushed us to being able to win the title.”
So for CCA, the focus is now on progression and trying to keep the momentum forward.
History shows that the winner of the Swampland Baseball League almost always rides that momentum into having a successful varsity season the following year.
With all of those pitchers and so many returnees off last year’s top-notch club, it’s not overly difficult to imagine that the Lions will be among the best clubs locally and also one of the favorites to win the Class 1A State Championship.
While most coaches would deflect or shy away from such lofty ambitions, Teuton is not. He said that he wants the Lions to strive to be a front-runner in Class 1A, because he thinks that it’s the next step in his team’s growth.
After all, the Lions did lead take a lead late into its State Semifinals matchup before squandering it and coming up short.
With an extra year of seasoning and now the experience of winning a championship, the coach thinks the Lions are in a position to continue pushing forward.
“After going through the high school playoffs and then going through this run throughout the summer and these playoffs, there’s no doubt that we grew as a team,” Teuton said. “We know what it’s like to face off with and beat No. 1 pitchers. That helps us.
“We got there last year and came up short. But we want to get back. I think it’s Sulphur or bust for us next spring. That’s our goal. That’s where we’ll expect to be when the season rolls around.”
CCA standout Dylan Sharpe fires a ball to the first baseman during a varsity game this past season. The Lions lost just one senior to graduation following the 2015 season, which has CCA as one of the favorites next spring. The Lions won the Swampland Championship this past week.
