Central Catholic to meet Ascension Catholic today

No. 6 Central Catholic will hit the road for the first time this postseason as the Eagles will travel to face No. 14 Ascension Catholic today in a Class 1A quarterfinal baseball game set for a 6 p.m. start at South Louisiana State Fairgrounds.
The Eagles enter the third round of the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
This year’s journey has included two run-rule victories along the way, a 19-0 win against No. 27 Delhi Charter in five innings in the first round, followed by a 10-0 win against No. 11 Ascension Episcopal Wednesday in the second round in six innings.
The Eagles have totaled a combined 30 hits in their first two wins — 16 against Delhi Charter and 14 against Ascension Episcopal.
Against Ascension Episcopal, eight of nine Central Catholic batters sent to the plate had at least one hit, while five of those batters had at least one RBI.
Greg Leger Jr. and Blake Hidalgo combined for a no-hitter against Delhi Charter, while Hidalgo and Samuel Guarisco combined to surrender just five hits in the second-round win.
Ascension Catholic, meanwhile, held off No. 19 seed Houma Christian 13-12 in the first round before traveling to Franklin and upsetting the No. 3 seed Hanson Memorial Tigers 6-3 Tuesday.
Earlier this year at the Central Catholic tournament, the Eagles escaped the Bulldogs 5-4 in eight innings.
“They’re a lot different than they were then,” Central Catholic head baseball coach Tyler Jensen, who watched the Bulldogs upset Hanson, said. “They were a team that was struggling early in the year. We beat them 5-4 in eight innings, but they had lost a bunch of games. They (are) young.”
Since that meeting, Jensen said the Bulldogs have improved both offensively and defensively.
“It’s going to take a complete team effort on the road in the quarterfinals to have a shot to win this game,” Jensen said.
Central Catholic’s coach said the Bulldogs, who are led by Todd Landry, are a well-coached bunch.
“Their coach, coach Landry, does a great job,” Jensen said. “He’s really brought them whole circle. They’re a much better baseball team than they were then. They have a really good pitcher on the mound.”
While this will mark Central Catholic’s first trip on the road this season and the Eagles have some new faces on the field this year, Jensen agreed that their experience as team members on past teams as well as just attending the game as a fan is beneficial to gauge the atmosphere they will be playing in.
“There’s no doubt that the experience helps a ton. … I don’t think being on the road will affect us too much,” Jensen said.