By GEORGE MAHL – Sports Editor

There were tears of joy one day.

There were just tears the next day.

It was an emotional roller coaster for the St. Charles Catholic baseball team, coaches and fans last weekend in Crowley.

By far, the Comets outdrew both Menard and Parkview Baptist. The chants of “hey, hey, SCC” were loud and clear on both days. The atmosphere at Miller Stadium on Saturday was unbelievable.

Like the Riverside-Episcopal game, I stood in the dugout to take pictures and get an up close feel as to what was happening out there. Through the first few innings of both games, SCC players were on an emotional high.

It was almost a deafening experience in the dugout when Jeremy Catoire struck out the side in the first inning of the Menard game.

Even when things did not go the Comets way, players would still maintain a positive approach.

“That’s OK. Keep your head up,” is what Comets third baseman James Callahan said after one of his teammates struck out. Callahan had the right attitude.

The play of the day and perhaps the play of the year was courtesy of Matt Sutton. When Menard pitcher Brad Lanchey ripped the ball to deep center, some players could barely stand to look. It seemed like a run was sure to score, which would have ended the Comets title hopes.

While watching the ball go farther and farther, I was thinking to myself “well they have had a great season.”

Naturally, I figured the game was over. But when Sutton caught the ball to end the inning, everyone in the park is thinking “how did he catch that”.

It was amazing.

Saturday night, I was staying with several St. Charles fans at a hotel in Rayne, the frog capital of the world. That night I was talking to some of them in one of the hotel rooms when we decided to sit outside of the hotel and chit chat while having a “adult beverage”. I refuse to name the person who invited me to join them.

Sunday was the big day.

I told someone, based on the last couple of years, that if I were a bookmaker in Las Vegas I would make Parkview Baptist about a two run favorite to defeat the Comets.

Well, it ended up to be six runs.

At the end of the game, the fans were upset, but not disappointed at the overall season. When players were shaking hands at the end of the game, a chant of “hey, hey SCC” broke out again. After the players displayed their emotions to each other and the coaches, parents and fans clapped for them as they exited the field.

They did not clap because they needed to.

They clapped because they wanted to.