By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
LAPLACE — The weather did not cooperate with St. Charles Catholic and the other participants in the Comet Classic tournament this weekend, as the annual event was condensed into a single day of action due to a relentless barrage of rain and hail.
But the Comets indeed got their season kicked off on Sunday, splitting a pair of games at Comet Field. SCC fell in its first game of the season to rival Lutcher, 4-2, before rebounding to take a 1-0 shutout victory over Mandeville.
“It was a miracle that we even got it in,” said St. Charles coach Paul Waguespack. “You know, I thought we played hard in both games. We came back out after a tough loss and got it done against Mandeville.”
Comets right-hander Chad McNeil earned his first victory of the season in impressive fashion against Mandeville, recording a two-hit shutout. McNeil went all seven innings and struck out four while walking three. He was efficient, finishing the day with just 85 pitches thrown.
“On opening day, sometimes you’re a little skeptical of throwing a guy all seven,” said Waguespack. “We had a guy up in the pen in case he started to struggle. But he wasn’t laboring out there. When I talked about maybe letting him go out for the seventh, he wanted the ball. He stepped up today like a senior should.”
St. Charles scored the game’s lone run in the first inning. Austin Weber was the catalyst, socking a leadoff double and then stealing third base. Kameron Keller knocked him in via a ground ball to short.
Jojo Gennaro took the loss for Mandeville, allowing four hits and an earned run through six complete innings. He walked none and struck out six.
In the early game, St. Charles ralled back from an early 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on Dylan Gillies’ RBI single. But Luke LeBlanc’s solo home run in the fifth tied things up, and Lutcher tacked on two more runs in the frame to take a 4-2 lead that held.
Jared Poche earned the win for Lutcher, going six innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits.
Poche, an LSU commitment, struck out 10 batters.
Connor Smith took the loss for SCC after allowing six hits and four runs (two earned) in six innings. He walked just one and struck out five.
“Connor threw the ball well,” said Waguespack. “I told him that if he continues to throw the ball like this, he’s gonna win a lot of games for us this year.”
Waguespack said that he’s excited about the team he has this season, especially because of its prowess defensively.
“We’ve had a lot of good defensive teams here. This one might just be the best,” said Waguespack. “We’ve always prided ourselves on the way we play defense here, and we’ve got an excellent group out there.”