Summer produces several surprises for Waguespack as Duhe leads pack of emerging players for 2006

By DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

LAPLACE – Maybe it was the threat of Hurricane Dennis, but something cooled off the St. Charles Catholic based Cretin Homes baseball team Saturday afternoon.

With a birth to the South Region playoffs in New Orleans on the line, the Comets lost the first two games of a best of three to Hannan, 6-3 and 8-5.

The pair of losses ends the season for the Comets, but Cretin Homes finishes with a very impressive 14-5 record.

Comets Head Coach Paul Waguespack said his squad had their fair share of chances against Hannan, but just could not come out on top.

“I don’t know,” Waguespack said. “We just got beat. They (Hannan) pitched the ball better than us, they fielded the ball better than us and they hit the ball better than us. Despite that we still had a chance to emerge victorious.

“We had the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh inning of the first game. We still lose 6-3. In the second game we went up 4-0, then they just started to pick away with one run in the first inning, two in the second inning, three in third and two in the fourth. We made a pitching change and Steven Duhe came in and shut them down the rest of the way and gave us a chance to win.”

A very big bright spot this summer for the Comets, Waguespack said he was very reluctant to throw Duhe on Saturday.

“We didn’t want to have to throw Steven,” Waguespack said. “He threw seven innings just two days before the game and didn’t give up a run and threw nearly three innings on Saturday and shut Hannan down. So for almost 10 innings, he kept a good Hannan team at bay.

“You could say hindsight we could have started him, but we didn’t want to throw him period because he had thrown earlier in the week and was on two days rest. But we had no choice. He did a good job.”

Despite the early exit, Waguespack said he was proud of his team.

“That is just how things work out sometimes,” Waguespack said. of his team’s lost. “They don’t always work out the way that you want.

“It still does not take away from the fact that we had a good summer. It is definitely something that we can build on for next prep season. We just kind of laid an egg at the end of the summer.”

Heading into a new classification and new district in 2006, Waguespack said the emergence of Duhe would give his squad a very deep pitching staff.

“Steven Duhe really emerged this summer,” Waguespack said. “He really emerged as one of our top pitchers. Not that I didn’t think that he would, but he stepped up and was throwing the ball the best at the end. He was definitely throwing the ball the best. His last three outings were outstanding. That’s a big positive.”

The emergence of Duhe was not the only pleasant surprise for Waguespack this summer.

“We gained some versatility this summer,” Waguespack said. “We found out that Phillip Sutton could play first base for us. Some other young kids also got some playing time. We will return six seniors next season, so we definitely have a lot to build on for 2006. We have a chance to be pretty good next year.”