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There won’t be a local baseball team taking the trip to Sulphur this season.
All three local teams still playing last weekend — South Terrebonne, E.D. White and Vandebilt — bowed out in the State Quarterfinals, each falling to a team seeded either No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective brackets.
Vandebilt and South Terrebonne were swept, falling to No. 1 University Lab (Division II) and No. 2 Lakeshore (Class 4A), respectively.
E.D. White won a ballgame in their series with No. 2 St. Thomas More (Division II), but they couldn’t win a second, falling in two-straight games over the weekend to the annual state power.
GATORS STRUGGLE AGAINST LAKESHORE
Right off the bus, South Terrebonne found itself in a hole against Lakeshore.
In the early innings of Friday’s Game 1, the Titans scored several walks, which allowed them enough baserunners to open an early lead en route to an easy 10-1 win.
South Terrebonne coach Mike Barba said he wasn’t happy with the free bases allowed, adding that it prevented his team from truly finding out where they stood against their powerful foe.
“Take nothing away from Lakeshore. They’re a great team. They have some kids who can really swing it,” Barba said. “But I told the kids, ‘Look, I don’t know who’s the better team, because we didn’t make them prove to us that they were better. We just sort of handed it to them with the walks and early mistakes.’ That’s something that didn’t sit well with our kids, because if you go back and look a the final few innings of the game — they were about even. But we just didn’t do enough early to make it a ballgame.”
Lakeshore had a 10-run lead and were close to ending the game early via run-rule. But the Gators scratched a run across late to send the game to its final margin and give the team momentum going into Game 2.
That second game was supposed to be played on Saturday, but rains washed out the games to Sunday — though the results didn’t change much with Lakeshore securing a comfortable 6-0 win.
The Gators were stymied completely in Sunday’s game, as Titans pitcher Hunter Dean tossed a one-hitter to keep South Terrebonne’s offense quiet.
The Titans got a run in the first inning, two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth to stretch the advantage out of reach.
Barba said he’s sorry to see the season end, but added that he’s proud of what his team accomplished. The Gators had just a handful of seniors this season.
TERRIERS CAN’T FIND COMEBACK MAGIC IN BATON ROUGE
In the opening round of the Division II State Playoffs, Vandebilt Catholic lost the first game against De La Salle, then won two-straight to punch a ticket into the Quarterfinals.
They couldn’t repeat their performance against No. 1 University Lab.
The Terriers were run-ruled in the opening game of the series on Friday night, falling 11-1 to their powerful foe — one of the more lopsided defeats of the season for the Terriers.
They, too, were rained out on Saturday, which set up a doubleheader on Sunday, though University needed just one game, beating the Terriers 3-2 to win the series and advance to Sulphur.
The Terriers battled the Cubs throughout the game — even generating more hits than them in Game 2.
But three errors plagued Vandebilt, allowing University to plate three unearned runs in the win — spoiling the dominant pitching of Vandebilt starter Brennen Hamner, who allowed just four hits in defeat.
Hamner also had an RBI at the plate for the Terriers, who ended their season with a 24-11 record.
Coach Gee Cassard said after Game 1 of the series that he was proud of his team — no matter the outcome of the series for their determination and grit throughout the season.
“These kids have competed all year,” Cassard said. “We couldn’t be prouder of this group for the things they’ve accomplished throughout the year.”
CARDINALS FALL IN 3 IN LAFAYETTE
E.D. White didn’t beat St. Thomas More in the Division II State Playoffs.
But boy, did they ever have their share of chances.
The Cardinals won Game 1 of the series 1-0 on Thursday behind a dominant pitching performance from Blair Robichaux, putting E.D. White in a position where they had two chances to win one game on Friday and Sunday.
And they led both games, but won neither.
The Cardinals led early in Game 2 and looked poised to seal the deal before the Cougars posted a big inning to take a 5-4 lead — aided on a bad hop in the infield, which helped power St. Thomas More’s rally.
E.D. White had a chance in the bottom of the seventh inning, but couldn’t scratch a run across, sending the game to Sunday’s series finale.
In that game, St. Thomas More won 8-4, but the Cardinals led early again — a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning.
It was an advantage which held until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Cougars exploded for eight runs to take an 8-2 lead.
E.D. White battled back and scored two to send the game to its final margin, but they never threatened again, allowing St. Thomas More to secure the win.
The loss ends E.D. White’s season with a 30-3 record. •
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