Three parish baseball teams reach quarterfinals
It’s been a strong year for Ascension Parish baseball, and the proof is in the pudding. Three area teams are headed for the state quarterfinals.
Ascension Catholic earned the No. 2 seeding in the Division-IV playoffs. In round one, the Bulldogs faced No. 15 Riverside Academy in a best-of-three series.
In game one, Ascension Catholic defeated Riverside, 5-1.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the first inning after Jacques Husers came up with an RBI double that scored Brooks Leonard.
Ascension Catholic took command in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs. Two Bulldogs scored on Riverside errors, and another scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
In the fourth, Jake Landry scored on another Rebel wild pitch to make it make 5-0. The Bulldogs eventually cruised to a 5-1 victory.
Bryce Leonard earned the win from the mound, pitching a complete game and only allowing five hits in the process. He struck out 10 batters.
From the plate, Husers was 2-3 with an RBI. Jake Landry was 1-2 with a walk, and both Bryce Leonard and Jackson Landry were 1-3.
On Saturday, Ascension Catholic punched its ticket to the state quarterfinals with a 10-3 win over Riverside.
Brooks Leonard threw a complete game from the mound, while going 3-4 with two doubles from the plate.
Lex Melancon was 2-5 with a walk and two RBIs. Demarco Harry was 2-4 with a walk and an RBI.
The Bulldogs will host seventh-seeded St. Frederick in a best-of-three series next week. St. Frederick swept 10th-seeded Vermillion Catholic in round one.
Ascension Christian’s season came to an end with a first-round loss to sixth-seeded Sacred Heart. The Lions lost the games by scores of 3-0 and 6-4.
Ascension Christian’s final record for the season was 24-12. The Lions were the District 7-1A runners-up.
Third-seeded Dutchtown made easy work of Slidell in round one of the Class 5A playoffs, rolling to a 9-2 victory.
From the mound, Nathan Monceaux picked up his ninth victory of the season. He pitched six complete innings, yielding six hits and one run. He struck out six batters.
Pierson Parent drove in two runs.
The victory pushed the Griffins through to round two for a home series against No. 14 Ponchatoula.
In game one, Dutchtown trailed the Green Wave, 1-0, until the fourth inning. The Griffins tied it there. They later trailed, 3-2, until they took a 4-3 lead in the sixth.
Dutchtown was then able to hold on for the game-one victory.
Game two went into extra innings, and the Griffins were able to pull it out, 3-0, to reach the quarterfinals for a second straight season.
Dutchtown will host 11th-seeded Central, who swept Haughton in round two. The two teams played back on March 8. The Griffins blanked the Wildcats, 5-0.
After a 10-0 win over Chalmette in round, St. Amant was able to sweep Live Oak by scores of 3-1 and 5-2 in round two.
Sophomore Layne Swanson was a huge catalyst from the plate for the Gators in the series. He collected four hits. This included an RBI in game one, and he drove in two runs in game two.
Dallis Moran was terrific from the mound as he earned a complete-game victory in game two. He only allowed two hits in the effort.
The win pushed St. Amant through to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2018. The Gators will now visit top-seeded Barbe.