St. Michael defeats Central Catholic, 4-1, in 9 innings

St. Michael the Archangel defeated Central Catholic, 4-1, in nine innings in Amelia Wednesday in a battle of two of the top teams in their respective classes.
While the Eagles, Class 1A’s top-ranked team according to the latest Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 1A power rankings, and the Warriors, 4A’s third-ranked team, played to a 1-all tie after seven innings, the Warriors threatened to end the game in the top of the eighth. With no outs, they loaded the bases via two walks by Central Catholic reliever Greg Leger with a single sandwiched in between.
However, Leger and the Central Catholic defense escaped the jam with a fielder’s choice to get the lead runner at home plate and a double play in the next at bat to get two more and preserve the lead.
In the ninth inning, however, St. Michael came through.
With one out and the bases loaded via two walks and a hit by pitch, St. Michael plated a run via a single to right field for a 2-1 lead.
While Leger got the second out, the Warriors scored two more via an error by Central Catholic leftfielder Blake Hidalgo on a play in which he and shortstop Samuel Guarisco collided before limiting anymore damage.
Leger took the loss in relief as he surrendered three earned runs on three hits with four walks, one hit batter and one strikeout.
Hidalgo started the game and held St. Michael to an earned run on four hits in seven innings of work. He walked three and fanned five.
Offensively, Central Catholic was limited to just four hits and left 11 runners on base, four of those in scoring position in four different innings.
“Blake Hidalgo and our defense single-handily kept us in this game,” Central Catholic coach Tyler Jensen said. “He was outstanding. The great thing about when Blake pitches is we know exactly what we are going to get out of him. He’s been phenomenal for us. We have to figure out ways to step up and get a big hit. That’s been our biggest flaw this season so far. We need guys that want to be at the plate in the big spot. I hope we learn from this loss. We are proving we can play with anyone, but we need to find ways to finish.”
Prior to the ninth inning, St. Michael plated its lone run via an RBI groundout in the third, while Central Catholic tied the game in the top of the fifth on Samuel Guarisco’s RBI single.
Guarisco led Central Catholic with a 1-for-4 performance with an RBI.
The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for Central Catholic. The Eagles (12-2 overall, 2-0 in district) will return to action Tuesday when they travel to face Centerville in a 4 p.m. contest.
Patterson defeats
French Settlement
The Patterson Lumberjacks defeated French Settlement, 8-1, in baseball action Wednesday at Patterson.
French Settlement outhit Patterson 10-8.
Brennan Gouaux led Patterson with a 2-for-3 performance with three RBIS and a run. Other top contributors included Blake Dreyer, 1-for-2, an RBI and a run; Joel Singleton, 1-for-3, an RBI and two runs; Jamey Fabre and Brad Beaubouef, each 1-for-3, with an RBI and a run; and Bryce Beaubouef, an RBI.
Joel Singleton earned the win for Patterson. In six innings, he surrendered one earned run on eight hits with four walks and fanned five.
While the Lumberjacks won the game, they received some bad news Wednesday as Patterson High coach Ryan Jensen said today that the team learned Sirbatian Charles will be lost for the remainder of the season due to injury.
“It’s a tough loss for our team from a baseball stand point but even more from the person perspective,” Patterson head coach Ryan Jensen said. “He's one of the best leaders and kids I've ever been around as a coach. You can’t replace someone like that on the field. We look forward to him being an asset in the dugout as we move forward and helping this team out whatever way he possibly can.”
Patterson (8-7) will return to action Tuesday when it opens District 8-3A play with a home contest against Kaplan at 5:30 p.m.