Hanson's Guienze, CCHS errors lift Tigers to 3-1 win

AMELIA — Hanson’s John Guienze limited Central Catholic’s offense, and the Eagles’ defense committed costly errors late in a 3-1 loss Saturday in a top 5 Class 1A matchup.
In a District 7-1A game pitting Hanson, the No. 3 team in Class 1A, and Central Catholic, the No. 5 team, the game, for the most part, was on par with the schools’ Louisiana High School Athletic Association power rankings.
Guienze, who tossed a complete-game three-hitter, gave up his only hits on a double by Mitchell Lemoine to left field in the bottom of the fifth, a single to centerfield by Samuel Guarisco in the bottom of the sixth and an infield single by Charlie Barron in the bottom of the seventh.
He surrendered his lone run on a sacrifice fly by Barron in the bottom of the fourth to give Central Catholic a 1-0 lead.
“John Guienze is a big-time player for us. … He’s a junior that’s been playing with me since he was an eighth grader, so he’s been in these games before,” Hanson coach Ryan Stoute said. “I expected this. I expected nothing less than this, but I was very impressed with his effort overall today.”
Guienze’s defense also helped him as Hanson caught two Central Catholic baserunners trying to steal in the early innings, and Hanson recorded double plays in the second and sixth innings.
“We didn’t swing it real today, and we didn’t have a real good approach,” Central Catholic coach Tyler Jensen said. “You got to give Guienze credit. He did a good job.”
Despite the loss, Central Catholic’s Gregory Leger Jr. still had a solid performance on the mound. In 6.1 innings, he surrendered three runs — two earned — on three hits with five walks, one hit batter and had 10 strikeouts.
While Leger and Central Catholic’s defense kept Hanson scoreless for much of the game, turning double plays in the third and fourth innings, and the Eagles’ Stefano Guarisco made a diving catch in centerfield to strand a Hanson base runner in the top of the fifth inning, it was errors in the sixth and seventh innings that helped seal the Eagles’ fate.
With one out in the top of the sixth, Hanson’s Cameron Stovall singled to left field.
The next batter, Chase Mensman, reached on an error by Guarisco at shortstop.
While runners moved up to second and third on a passed ball, Hanson tied the game at 1 on Brandon Bonin’s groundout to Central Catholic second baseman Tony Pennison.
In the top of the seventh, Hanson’s Britt Young, who had walked to begin the inning, advanced two bases to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Leger.
He scored one batter later when Guienze singled to right field for a 2-1 Hanson advantage.
After Leger fanned pinch-hitter Brennan Young, he walked Luke Lancon, which prompted Jensen to make a pitching change.
With Guarisco now on the mound, Hanson plated another run on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead.
Central Catholic got a runner on in the bottom of the seventh via a Barron infield single but could do nothing with it as Guienze struck out Barbier looking and T.J. Ruffin grounded out to Hanson’s Jacob Hebert to end the game.
“I knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Stoute said. “Anytime we come over here it is. Anytime they come to our place (it is) a dogfight. It brings out the best in both teams. … Both pitchers battled, both teams battled, numerous double plays. It was a good high school baseball game.”
Jensen said his team’s defensive performance was upsetting.
“It’s kind of summarized our season all year — up and down,” he said. “Against Vermilion Catholic, we made 19 plays, and we only struck out two guys, so we were solid on defense. I told our guys before the game for us to win this game, we’d have to play really well defensively and we didn’t. We made some really costly, not smart plays, but whenever you score one run, it’s tough to win too many games.”
In Saturday’s loss, Lemoine led Central Catholic with a 1-for-3 performance with a double, while Barron was 1-for-1 with an RBI.
Bonin and Guienze each finished 1-for-3 with an RBI to lead Hanson.
Central Catholic (12-3 overall and 2-1 in District 7-1A action), who snapped a four-game winning streak with Saturday’s loss, will return to action today when it travels to face Ascension Episcopal in a 6 p.m. contest.
Meanwhile, Hanson (13-1, 3-0) has won four straight and will return to the field today when they host Gueydan in a district contest set for 4 p.m.