CCHS, Hanson to meet in 1A semifinals Friday

It’s Sulphur veteran vs. Sulphur newcomer.
It’s a battle of District 7-1A rivals.
It’s a match-up of St. Mary Parish teams.
It’s Central Catholic vs. Hanson Memorial, and it’s on Class 1A baseball’s biggest stage.
No. 1 Central Catholic (26-4) and No. 5 Hanson (22-8) will meet Friday in the Class 1A semifinals at 5 p.m. on Field 37 at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
Central Catholic coach Tyler Jensen said there’s positive and negatives to playing Hanson again.
“The positive is you don’t have to search as much for information,” Jensen said. “That’s always one of the tough things about the playoffs. You play teams from far away and you got to get information, so that’s a good thing. I think both teams know each other. There’s not going to be a whole lot of secrets. The negative is they’re a really good team.”
To be successful, Jensen said his team would have to convert routine plays, have more success at the plate than last time this season when they faced Hanson pitcher John Guienze and put together a complete game like they did in an 8-4 victory against Cedar Creek on the road in the Class 1A quarterfinals last week.
During the regular season, Central Catholic and Hanson split their District 7-1A contests as Hanson handed Central Catholic its lone loss to a Class 1A opponent, 7-3, on April 12 in Amelia. The Eagles responded April 20 with a 12-1 victory in a rain-shortened contest in Franklin.
Central Catholic enters the semifinal with a team ERA of 2.18 and 199 combined strikeouts.
Offensively, the squad is batting .347 with five home runs and 45 doubles.
Individually, Blake Hidalgo is 6-1 this season with a 2.54 ERA and 63 strikeouts, while Gregory Leger is 5-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 65 strikeouts. Charlie Solar is 4-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 29 strikeouts.
At the plate, Mitchel Lemoine is batting .421 with 10 doubles, one home run and 28 RBIs, while Thomas Garber is hitting .402 with six doubles, one home run and 30 RBIs. Samuel Guarisco is batting .385 with seven doubles and 27 RBIs.
Hanson head baseball coach Ryan Stoute said Central Catholic is a good team that is well coached and has good pitching, hitting and defense.
“It’s definitely good to be seeing someone that you’re so familiar with so late in the season, and it’s a good testament to how good our district is and how good baseball is in this parish, so we’re excited,” he said.
Another District 7-1A opponent, No. 6 Vermilion Catholic, is playing in the other Class 1A semifinal at 2 p.m. against No. 7 Oak Grove Friday. The winner of the two semifinals will meet Friday at 4 p.m. for the Class 1A state championship.
Hanson and Vermilion Catholic finished tied for second place in District 7-1A with 11-3 marks, while Central Catholic was the District 7-1A champion with a 13-1 mark.
This year’s trip to the semifinals marks the first appearance for Hanson since 2009.
Friday’s trip will mark Central Catholic’s fifth straight Class 1A semifinal appearance — twice in Sulphur. However, the Eagles are 0-2 at McMurry Park during the past two semifinal trips.
Central Catholic advanced to the semifinals this season after defeating No. 32 Logansport (10-0) in the bi-district round, No. 16 Grand Lake (5-3) in the regional round and No. 9 Cedar Creek in the Class 1A quarterfinals.
While the Eagles had to make a four-plus hour road trip last week to face Cedar Creek in Ruston, the trip didn’t faze the Eagles as they had a solid performance.
“We came out ready to go,” Central Catholic senior Stefano Guarisco said on the difference of the last game from the first two. “We had a lot of energy and intensity, and everybody in the dugout, starters included, everybody was just ready to go. Everybody was locked in.
“That Grand Lake game kind of got us all out of sort the way it rained out, and then it got rained out again, and then, we couldn’t get on the field,” he said.
Guarisco said that with the Grand Lake game’s playing date undecided for a while due to the rain, the team didn’t know when they would get on the field.
“This game, we knew when we were playing,” he said of Cedar Creek. “Everybody got focused from the time we heard who we were playing and when we were playing, and everybody was just locked in ready to go.”
Hanson’s journey to Sulphur has included victories against No. 28 East Beauregard (14-3) in the bi-district round, No. 21 Southern Lab (25-0) in the regional round and No. 13 Catholic High-Pointe Coupee (6-5) in the quarterfinals.
Central Catholic senior Patrick Barron said while playing Hanson provides familiarity in what the other team is good at and who to focus on, it’s not the main focus.
“We’re not really worried about who we’re playing, because we’ve just got to worry about ourselves because we’re our toughest opponent,” he said.
Friday’s game will be broadcast on KBZE 105.9 FM and KFRA 1390 AM.