MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / May 9, 2000

LUTCHER – Teurlings Catholic’s Jared Salazar is not one of the tallest pitchers Lutcher has faced this season.

But none have come up with a bigger performance than the one Salazar had Friday afternoon in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

Salazar held the Bulldogs to four hits while driving in three runs himself at the plate to lead the Rebels to an 11-2 victory.

Teurlings Catholic (25-5), which won the Class 2A title last year before moving up, will play Pearl River in the semifinals. Pearl River (18-13)defeated Caldwell Friday. In the other semifinal, E.D. White, a 3-2 winner overSt. Charles Catholic, will play Kaplan, which defeated Notre Dame, 14-4.Lutcher, the District 9-3A champions, finished at 29-5. It is believed that isthe most wins for a Bulldog team in a season.

“It was a great season,” Lutcher coach Scott Tribble said. “We just ran intoa team that played better than us today. It will be interesting to see ifanybody can stay with them.”Few have been able to stay with Salazar who improved to 11-2 on the season. He went the distance Friday, giving up one earned run on four hitsand two walks while striking out eight.

“We knew he went the distance just about every time out,” Tribble said. “Itwasn’t like we were going to rattle him. He didn’t make many mistakes andwhen he did, the next guy couldn’t hurt him.”Salazar helped himself with a two-run single in the top of the first. JustinGuy led off the game by getting hit by a pitch by Lutcher starter Damian Ursin. Scott Viator beat out a bunt to second and Tyler Dugas walked to loadthe bases. Salazar then slapped a single to right, scoring Guy and Viator fora 2-0 lead.

Ursin prevented further trouble by getting Dustin Padgett to hit into a force out. Padgett was then caught stealing by catcher Dustin Deslatte as StevenRomero struck out to end the inning.

Lutcher threatened in each of the first two innings but could not push a run across. With two outs in the first, Tray Haydel was hit by a pitch and Ursinreached on an error before Salazar came back to get Deslatte to ground out to short. Lee Poche walked and Jeremy Martin singled to left with one out inthe second. But after Scott Ocmond sacrificed the runners over, Salazarstruck out Rusty Crosslin to end the threat.

Teurlings added three more runs in the third. Guy led off with a single tocenter and then beat out Ursin’s throw to second on Viator’s bunt attempt.

Dugas brought him home with a single to left. After Salazar popped up,Padgett and Romero delivered run scoring singles to left, giving the Rebels a 5-0 lead. Ursin then got Matt Broussard to ground into an inning-endingdouble play, the third straight inning the Bulldogs turned a double play.

Lutcher got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Bo Louque reached toopen the inning as Guy’s throw from short pulled first baseman Brandon Charpantier off the bag. Two outs later, Deslatte reached on an error byBroussard at third. Risley St. Germain capitalized, driving a double to rightfield to scorer Louque and cutting the deficit to 5-1.

Teurlings made it 7-1 in the fourth. Corey Hebert led off with a double tocenter and went to third on an errant pickoff throw by Ursin. DustinQuebodeaux then beat out a high chopper to short, plating Hebert for a 6-1 lead. Guy followed with a single to left and Viator walked to load the bases.After Matt Roussel came in to pitch for the Bulldogs, Quebodeaux was caught trying to score on a wild pitch. Following a diving catch by Crosslin on Dugas’liner to second, Salazar singled to left, scoring Guy for a 7-1 advantage.

Lutcher got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Martinwalked to lead off the inning and scored an out later as Crosslin lined a double inside the third baseline. Quebodeaux prevented further trouble bymaking a diving catch on Louque’s fly ball to right.

Teurlings broke the game open in the sixth. Viator led off with a single offCrosslin, who had come in relief of Roussel after the fifth inning. Dugasfollowed with a double inside the third baseline, scoring Viator to make it 8-2.

One out later, Padgett walked and Romero doubled to center for two more runs. Romero was out at third on a grounder back to the mound byBroussard who then advanced to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch and scored on Hebert’s single to center. It was the 17th hit of the game for theRebels and gave them an 11-2 lead.

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