E.D. White riding hot pitching to strong baseball start

LSU wins, moves to 2nd round
March 21, 2012
Nicholls baseball ready to reach midseason peak
March 21, 2012
LSU wins, moves to 2nd round
March 21, 2012
Nicholls baseball ready to reach midseason peak
March 21, 2012

With new, watered down bats in prep baseball, run scoring is down across the state and pitchers now hold a slight edge over hitters.

That’s good news for the E.D. White baseball team – their hurlers didn’t need much of an added advantage.


They’d likely be dominant no matter what bats opponents used.


Thanks to one of the best pitching staffs in the Tri-parish area, the Cardinals have firmly established themselves as one of the area’s top teams, rolling to a 11-3 start to the season.

That elite pitching was on full display Thursday when the Cardinals beat Ellender 6-3 to kick off their weekend tournament.


As a whole, the Cardinals have limited opponents to one run or fewer in six games and are currently allowing just 3.8 runs per game as a team.


“Overall we’re doing pretty good,” E.D. White senior pitcher Drake Bourgeois said. “We have an energetic team and right now we’re doing well on pitching and defense. But we knew coming into the year that pitching would be our calling card. We knew that we’d have to have a strong staff to be successful.”

“We’re led by that pitching staff,” Cardinals coach Shane Trosclair agreed. “They are not just experienced, but good. They are very talented. … The hitting is a work in progress, but we’ve pitched it well enough to get to where we are so far this year.”


E.D. White’s pitching success isn’t because of one dominant ace – it’s more a story of strength by numbers.


Where most teams have just one or two serviceable arms, the Cardinals have an alarming number.

“We have nine guys that we could give the ball to,” Trosclair said. “And by giving the ball to any of those nine, we know that we’ll have a shot to be successful. That’s something that we’re lucky to have and something that we’re trying to take advantage of.”


Bourgeois and senior pitcher Joshua Robichaux are two of the senior leaders that anchor the Cardinals’ plentiful staff.


Also joining the nine-man unit are names like senior John Mayeaux, juniors Scott Szush and Peyton Coddon and sophomores Brennan Legendre and Justin Theriot.

Robichaux said having so many useful hands helps all of the team’s pitchers because they don’t have to have their best stuff every time they take the mound.


“We have tremendous depth,” Robichaux said. “That’s a huge plus we have. Everyone can go out there and be loose knowing that we have backup ready if needed.”


The truth is that while the pitchers are serving as backup to one another, they collectively are keeping the team afloat in the grind of the season.

Where E.D. White’s pitching is polished, its hitting is more a work in progress.


The Cardinals average close to seven runs per game this season, but have been hit or miss throughout the season.

Thursday’s game with the Patriots was a microcosm of E.D. White’s struggles. After scoring six runs in the first two innings, the Cardinals were shut out in the final five frames.

“We’ve got to get more consistent at the plate all-around,” Trosclair said following the Ellender game. “We only had four hits tonight and we’ve probably only averaged four hits per game in our last four or five games. That’s not going to win very many baseball games. We’re trying to get at least double digit hits and run-wise, I want to get to that four or five run mark. If we get to four or five runs with our pitchers, we know we have a chance to win the ballgame.”

The reasons for E.D. White’s offensive shortcomings are two-fold according to both Trosclair and his players.

The first are the new bats, which have turned balls that would have normally been base hits into outs.

Trosclair said the entire state is using the bats, so it’s not an excuse. But he added it’d be “foolish” for one to not be able to see the impact they’ve had on the game.

“We’re spraying balls up in the air that are getting lost and dying out there,” Trosclair said. “The bats are just different. It’s a lot different. It’s changed the game.”

The Cardinals’ pitchers see it, too.

They just aren’t quite as disappointed as the team’s hitters.

“We’re seeing balls die sooner out there,” Robichaux said. “Balls that we used to be a little more panicked about off the bat are dying in the outfield.”

The team’s second factor isn’t able to be controlled – lady luck. Even if the old bats were still in play E.D. White is just having some good, old fashioned bad luck. Against Ellender, the Cardinals hit a lot of balls hard, but right at defenders. That’s been the story of the season, according to Trosclair.

“It’s just bad luck. That’s all it is right now. Bad luck,” Trosclair said. “We’re just hitting the ball right at people. We make good contact and the ball is flying right at the defense.”

Sooner or later, the law of averages suggests those balls will find holes.

If they do, look out.

E.D. White is winning games without luck on its side. With it, the team looks poised to advance farther than they did last year when they reached the Class 3A state quarterfinals.

“The offense will get better and take care of itself,” Trosclair said. “Our trademark is going to be pitching and defense. We’re going to ride that all of the way to the end. We’ve got a great team. I love this bunch. They play hard. They practice hard. And they are a fun group to be around. We love each other. Obviously in baseball you need some luck, but if we set ourselves up in power points at the end of the year, I think we can be one of the teams to make a run in that state tournament and hopefully win that state championship.”

E.D. White pitcher Joshua Robichaux tosses a pitch with a runner on base during Thursday’s game between the Cardinals and Ellender. 

CASEY GISCLAIR | TRI-PARISH TIMES