No. 2 CCHS will host No. 15 St. Mary today

The Central Catholic Lady Eagles will be looking to continue their postseason run when they host No. 15 St. Mary today in Class 1A regional round action at 5 p.m.
The Lady Eagles (25-3) advanced to the second round after recording a 12-2 run-rule victory against Oberlin in six innings Monday in bi-district action.
In today’s contest, the Lady Eagles will face a St. Mary squad from Natchitoches that advanced to the second round after defeating No. 18 Covenant Christian 12-2 in five innings Tuesday.
In the contest, Covenant Christian was limited to three hits and committed eight errors, while St. Mary totaled nine hits and had an error.
Central Catholic coach Joe Russo said from the information he’s gathered about St. Mary, he said they have two quick players and are “aggressive” on the base paths.
“I guess my main concern is the speed,” Russo said. “Everybody’s saying they’re coming with a lot of speed, so we’re going to have to take care of our business defensively for that.”
Defensively, the Lady Eagles have not allowed much this season as the Lady Eagles have allowed 43 runs in 28 games, just 1.5 per contest.
Central Catholic pitcher Megan Landry has had her way with many of the offenses the Lady Eagles have faced, while her defense has yielded little otherwise.
Because the Lady Eagles’ defense didn’t get a ton of work, especially during District 7-1A play, Russo said his squad focused on defense in practice Wednesday to get them some practice in.
St. Mary enters the contest with a 12-13 overall mark. It finished 5-5 in District 3-1A.
Besides their speedy players, Russo said his squad also has worked on adjusting to the slower speed of St. Mary’s pitcher, who he said throws between 50 and 55 mph.
While the Lady Eagles will be playing at home and Russo hopes the home crowd will be a positive for the Lady Eagles, he said they can’t take anything for granted in the postseason.
“There’s a lot of teams getting upsets that are higher seeded and they don’t have a second chance. ... That just goes to show you that you got to play every game to the best of your ability,” he said. “You can’t worry about the seeding and the scouting reports. You just gotta get out there and play.”
Admission to the contest is $7.
Additional information from www.bayoupreps.com