While much of Breaux Bridge is preparing for this weekend’s big Crawfish Festival, Breaux Bridge High baseball coach Kyle Cormier is working to get his Tiger team ready for the quarterfinal round of the state Class 4A playoffs.
The Tigers, who entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, powered past Edna Karr in the first round and topped No. 19 Carencro in the best of three series this past Friday and Saturday to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Bridge will host No. 6 Pearl River in another best of three series, with the first game set for 6 p.m. Friday. The second game will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the third game, if necessary, starting one hour after the end of the second contest.
The Cecilia Bulldogs, who drew the No. 15 seed and a first round game at home, fell behind No. 18 Assumption early and saw a spirited rally fall short as they were eliminated by a 9-5 loss.
The Mustangs had built an 8-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh when coach Jamie Calais’ Bulldogs scored five runs and had the tying run on deck but fell short.
The Bulldog season ended with an 18-13 overall record.
Breaux Bridge shut out Carencro 5-0 in the first regional game last week but couldn’t seal the deal in the second game, losing 6-3.
“We had the opportunities,” says Cormier. “We loaded the bases twice but couldn’t get the runs.”
The Tigers finished strong, however. blasting the Bears 11-1 in the third game.
“They didn’t have the depth at pitcher,” Cormier said, “and I felt comfortable that we could score on them in that last game.”
Looking ahead to Pearl River, which owns a 22-7 record after playoff wins over No. 27 Warren Easton and No. 22 Franklinton, Cormier feels confident his Tigers will be up to the challenge.
“We’ve got the depth on the mound if we have to go three games again,” he says. “Our seniors have been to the quarterfinals every year during their high school career and I feel good about our chances to finally get past this round.”
Cormier says the Rebels are similar to Carencro but are not quite as athletic and lack the overall speed of the Bears. “And Pearl River doesn’t have much playoff experience.”
Should Breaux Bridge get past Pearl River, they would advance to the semifinal round at the state tournament in Sulphur against the winner of the No. 2 Lakeshore/No. 10 South Terrebonne quaterfinals.
LHSAA 4A PLAYOFFS
First Round
Breaux Bridge 10, Edna Karr 0
Edna Karr......................000 000 – 0 1 5
Breaux Bridge...............125 002 – 10 6 0
WP: Caleb Seroski 3IP, 1H, 5K. LP: K. Francois 3IP, 5H, 8R, 2ER, 1BB, 1K. Top Hitters: BB - Cole Mouton 3-4, 1B, 2 doubles, R, 3RBIs; Christian Gonzalez 2-3, 1B, 3B, 2R, 2RBIs; Gavan Courville 1-3, 2B, RBI. Karr - R. Rue 1-2, 1B.
Records: Breaux Bridge 28-4; Edna Karr 12-11-1.
#18 Assumption 9, #15 Cecilia 5
#21 Beau Chene 6, #12 DeRidder 3
#19 Carencro 15, #14 South Lafourche 5
#1 Tioga 10, #32 Westgate 0
#16 Rayne 12, #17 North DeSoto 2
#9 Salmen 3, #24 Belle Chasse 1
#8 Neville 5, #25 Franklin Parish 4
##5 West Ouachita 12, #28 Bossier 0
#13 Northwood-Shrev. 11, #20 Riverdale 1
#4 Benton 4, #29 Plaquemine 2
#22 Franklinton 6, #11 Lutcher 1
#6 Pearl River 10, #27 Warren Easton 1
#26 Leesville 6, #7 Minden 5
#10 S. Terrebonne 16, #23 Buckeye 0
#2 Lakeshore 15, #31 Morgan City 0
Regional Round
Breaux Bridge 5, Carencro 0
Carencro.....................000 000 0 – 0 1 3
Breaux Bridge.............010 220 x – 5 5 1
WP: Caleb Seroski 7IP, 1H, 1BB, 12K. LP: J. Mitchell 6IP, 5H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K. Top Hitters: BB - Christian Gonzalez 1-3, 3B, R; Gavan Courville 1-2, 3B, RBI; Keegan Cormier 1-3, 2B, R; Gage Colligan 1-3, 1B, 2RBIs; Layton Berard 1-3, 1B, R. Car - Z. Boyer 1-3, 2B.
Carencro 6, Breaux Bridge 3
Breaux Bridge............000 012 0 – 3 10 3
Carencro....................103 011 x – 6 11 1
WP: Z. Boyer 7IP, 10H, 3R, 1ER, 2BB, 2K. LP: Cole Mouton 5IP, 8H, 5R, 2ER, 3BB, 1K. Top Hitters: BB - Layton Berard 2-4, 2 singles, R; Peyton Parker 2-2, 2 singles, R, RBI; Christian Gonzalez 2-4, 2 singles; Noah Frederick 1-4, 1B, RBI; Mouton 1-4, 1B; Caleb Seroski 1-3, 1B, RBI; Keegan Cormier 1-2, 1B. Car - J. Royer 2-3, 2 doubles, 2R, RBI; Z. Boyer 2-4, 2 singles, R, RBI; M. Wright 2-4, 2 singles, 2RBIs; B. Louiere, 1-4, 1B, 2R; T. Faulk 1-3, 1B, R; J. Mitchell 1-3, 1B, RBI; J. Braquet 1-2, 1B; J. Braquet 1-4, 1B.
Breaux Bridge 11, Carencro 1
Carencro.......................000 100 – 1 4 5
Breaux Bridge...............105 131 – 11 8 1
WP: Christian Gonzalez 6IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 6K. LP: M. Wright 2.2IP, 4H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 1K. Top Hiters: BB - Layton Berard 2-2, 2 singles, 2R, 2RBIs; Cole Mouton 1-3, 2B, 2R; Keegan Cormier 1-3, 1B, R; Gavan Courville 1-3, 1B, 3RBIs; Gage Colligan 1-3, 1B, 2RBIs; Peyton Parker 1-2, 2B, R, 2RBIs; Caleb Seroski 1-2, 1B, R, RBI. Car - Z. Boyer 2-3, 1B, 2B, R; J. Braquet 1-2, 1B; C. Babineaux 1-1, 1B.
#5 West Ouachita 2, #21 Beau Chene 0
(10-1, 11-1)
#1 Tioga 2, #16 Rayne 0 (8-2, 10-0)
#9 Salmen2, #8 Neville 1 (3-4, 9-3, 9-4)
#4 Benton 2, #13 Northwood-Shreve 0
(11-1, 7-3)
#6 Pearl River 2, #22 Franklinton 0
(3-1, 6-0)
#10 South Terrebonne vs. #26 Leesville
4-3, 4-5, 14-3
#2 Lakeshore 2, #18 Assumption 0
(10-5, 5-1)
Quarterfinal Round
Friday-Saturday, May 3-4
#6 Pearl River at #3 Breaux Bridge
#9 Salmen at #1 Tioga
#5 West Ouachita at #4 Benton
#10 South Terrebonne at #2 Lakeshore
