Central Catholic will open 1A postseason against Ascension Christian

Central Catholic High School will begin Class 1A postseason softball action today when it hosts Ascension Christian in a bi-district round matchup set for a 5 p.m. contest at the Bayou Vista Community Center.
The Lady Eagles (15-12) enter the matchup as the No. 12 seed in Class 1A. The Lady Eagles have won three out of their last five games, including their last two — a 16-5 run-rule victory against Gueydan in their District 7-1A finale and a 9-7 victory against Berwick High in its regular season finale.
Central Catholic finished tied for third in District 7-1A with Centerville, as each posted 9-5 records.
The Lady Eagles came into the season having to replace a talented senior class that led the team to its first state championship in school history a year ago. Included in that class was pitcher and Nicholls State signee, Megan Landry.
Sophomore Sarah Thomas replaced Landry, a four-year starter, on the mound.
She received plenty of run support from the Lady Eagles offense, who has put together some impressive games this season.
Central Catholic coach Joe Russo said he was proud of this year’s squad for its accomplishments.
“Who would have ever thought that we would get 15 wins after winning a state championship and losing eight seniors to last year’s team, so just with that being said, I’m extremely proud of this group of girls,” Russo said. “They work very hard. They (are) very dedicated, and so far we’re very excited about being 12th in the state and getting those 15 wins.”
As for the Lady Eagles first-round opponent, Ascension Christian finished 7-11 overall and 4-4 in District 6-1A, good enough for third place.
They lost their regular season and district finale to Ascension Catholic, 15-0.
Russo said Ascension Christian is a young team with a seventh-grader at catcher and an eighth-grader on the mound.
“Kid throws in the low to mid 50s,” he said.
Russo said his team worked around that pitching speed in batting practice.
“We (are) just going to take one game at a time and hopefully we continue to hit the ball well,” he said. “That’s one of our strong points this year. Hopefully we’ll just hit the ball well and we can manage that eighth (grader) throwing that low 50-mile-per-hour pitch.”