Third time’s the charm?

No. 3 Central Catholic may be the veteran and No. 7 Cedar Creek may be the newcomer to the Class 1A state baseball tournament this weekend but as much as the teams are different this year in that experience factor, they are similar in a few ways.
Both teams are 17-1 against Class 1A competition and the majority of both teams’ squads losses were to playoff squads — four of Cedar Creek’s five losses and three of Central Catholic’s four defeats.
And most importantly, both teams are still alive in the Class 1A playoffs.
Both will meet at 5 p.m. in McMurry Park in Sulphur to settle one half of the Class 1A semifinals Friday.
In the other Class 1A semifinal, No. 9 Sacred Heart of Ville Platte will meet No. 4 St. John of Plaquemine.
While Central Catholic enters with plenty of experience — and heartache — after falling in the last two Class 1A state championship games to Ouachita Christian in 2012 and Mangham High School in 2014, Cedar Creek will be making its first semifinal appearance since 2003.
While they are a No. 7 seed, Cedar Creek’s resume is quite impressive.
The Cougars (29-5) split two games with Class 1A’s top seed this season, Ouachita Christian, defeating them 8-3 in early April before falling to them 8-6 later last month.
The Cougars also beat Mangham 10-0 in the final regular season game.
During the regular season, the Cougars defeated Class 2A top seed Oak Grove Menard, who both advanced to the Class 2A quarterfinals.
Cedar Creek coach Ben Haddox said Wednesday that his squad played well in its tough nondistrict games this year.
“We’ve played some big games this year and that was the point of our nondistrict schedule was try to beef it up and play a little tougher (schedule) since our district schedule would not be as tough,” Haddox said.
They continued their impressive play in the postseason, knocking off No. 2 seed and former district foe St. Frederick, 10-2 Monday.
Central Catholic coach Tyler Jensen attended that game and said the Cougars are “solid.”
Jensen said Cedar Creek right hander Jacob Brown, who earned the win against St. Frederick, throws in the low 80s and has a good breaking ball.
“He works both sides of the plate,” Jensen said.
Brown, a junior, is 8-1 this season with a 1.39 ERA and 60 strikeouts.
Cedar Creek also features senior Grant Clary, who is 8-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 54 strikeouts.
As a team, Cedar Creek has an ERA of 1.61.
Jensen also said from his look at the Cougars that they are good on defense, have a lot of team speed and they battle at the plate.
“I think the thing that stood out the most to me was how much they battle at the plate,” he said. “I heard their coach say multiple times their goal is to see six pitches in an at bat. They did a really good job of fouling off pitches or whatever else. It just really comes down to if we execute or not. They’re not going to make a whole lot of mistakes. If they do, we have to make them pay for them, and we can’t make mistakes because if we do, they’re going to make us pay for them.”
Brown leads the Cedar Creek offense with a .433 batting average and 46 RBIs, while leadoff hitter, senior Mark Vann has scored 51 runs. As a team, Cedar Creek is batting .372.
As for what his squad would face in Central Catholic, Haddox said he was trying to gather information Wednesday, but did say the Eagles have quite a lofty reputation.
“Their reputation precedes them,” he said. “They’re an extremely good ball club. You don’t go to the state championship two years and in the state tournament a third year without being extremely well coached. They’re extremely talented, so we know we’ve got an uphill battle against us and we’re just going to come out and play the best as we can and control what we can control.”
While the Eagles (27-4) have been to the state championship the past two years, they haven’t come home with their ultimate goal of a state championship.
Senior Barron Courtney said there is added pressure in trying to go there and win a state title after two successful attempts.
“I don’t want to come how knowing we were the senior class that didn’t get it done. I want to come home with the gold trophy, not the silver one,” he said.
That starts with not overlooking Cedar Creek, though.
“If you look past Cedar Creek, they’re going to beat you,” he said. “They’re there for a reason. I’m sure they’re a great baseball team. You just got to play the game. You can’t look past anybody. There was a lot of upsets early in the playoffs. If you overlook anyone, you can lose, so we have to focus on Friday, and if we take care of business Friday, then (we can) worry about Saturday.”
As for what it will take to win a state championship, senior Bryson Barbier said it involves focusing on what the team’s goal is for the trip.
“If we play our game, and we keep on playing like we’ve been playing, we’ll be just fine,” he said.
The Eagles enter the semifinals having outscored their three playoff opponents a combined 36-7. Included in those three wins are run-rule victories against False River and St. Edmund in the first two rounds.
Offensively, Courtney, a senior, leads the Eagles this season with a .452 average with one home run, 14 doubles and 41 RBIs, while junior Matthew Barbier is batting .401 with eight doubles and 27 RBIs. Senior Nick Case is hitting .370 with six doubles and 32 RBIs.
On the mound, the Eagles have three pitchers with ERAs under 3.00. Bryson Barbier is 9-1 with a 2.88 ERA, while Samuel Guarisco is 8-1 with a 1.77 ERA and Charlie Barron is 7-1 with a 1.52 ERA.
Friday’s game will be broadcast on KBZE 105.9 FM and KFRA 1390 AM. Pregame will start at approximately 4:30 p.m. If the Eagles win Friday, Saturday’s championship game also will be broadcast on these two stations with pregame beginning at approximately 3:30 p.m. and first pitch set for 4 p.m.
The Class 1A semifinal and final games will be played on Field 37 at McMurry Park.