By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles Catholic’s B.J. Waguespack offered something of a wry smile when asked about his potential no-hitter broken up with two outs to go in the top of the seventh inning against visiting De La Salle Tuesday — it was the fourth time this season that the right-hander had come one hit away from a no-hit performance.

But he kept perspective after the game: there’s nothing wrong with settling on a one-hit shutout, especially when coupled with a 7-0 District 11-3A victory. 

“I kinda had an idea of it, but honestly I’m not really worried about that (the no-hitter),” said Waguespack. “I just want to win.”

De La Salle’s Scott Lauland broke up the no-hit bid, the second batter of the seventh inning. 

The Comets lost a pair of one-run games last week to district rival John Curtis and, after a scheduled weekend game with E.D. White was rained out, SCC was left to dwell for four off days. 

“We’d lost three straight games and we needed this win badly,” said SCC’s Mason Bordelon, who went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. 

St. Charles coach Wayne Stein said that he and his team were glad to see Waguespack bounce back after a tough outing against Curtis Thursday, which saw the Patriots score four first inning runs to chase him from the game.

“We were really happy to see that, and I know B.J. really wanted to get back out there. It shows a lot for a kid to be able to flush what happened and get right back to it,” he said.

“We kind of had a long time to dwell on last week … I don’t know if I can say we had the same emotion that we did against Curtis, but the focus was there today.”

St. Charles got off to a quick start when Eian Mitchell and Connor Western drove home Kameron Keller and Austin Weber to give SCC a 2-0 lead.

Waguespack (5-1) helped his own cause when he singled in Connor Smith in the fourth inning, then Bordelon dropped a bases-loaded single into right to plate Justin Ory to make it 4-0. 

De La Salle (8-8, 1-1) escaped a potentially bigger Comet surge when Western lined into a double play with runners at second and third in the third, then when Weber lined out and Cavaliers starter Glen Gebo struck out Mitchell in the fourth. 

“We were hitting it hard. We got our confidence up early, but we were getting ourselves out,” said Bordelon.

But while the Cavs hung around, De La Salle couldn’t answer. Waguespack faced the minimum number of batters through the first six innings, with two De La Salle baserunners wiped out by a second inning pickoff by catcher Weber and a sixth inning rundown, both reaching on walks. 

“I thought we competed hard for seven innings,” said De La Salle coach Rowland Skinner. “I’ve got a lot of respect for St. Charles and their program. (Waguespack) stayed ahead of our hitters and mixed up his pitches well.”

The Comets closed the door in the sixth, Bordelon singling home Dane Authement, then two more runs scoring on an error. 

“It’s a big confidence boost for us after losing three tough games,” said Waguespack. “But we know it doesn’t get any easier.”

Midway through the season, the Comets know they can rely upon their pitching and defensive play. With Bordelon, Connor Smith and Waguespack leading the starting rotation, SCC has allowed three runs or less in 13 of its 18 games this season.

“We pride ourselves on being a team based on strong pitching and defense. When you continually put zeroes up on their side, you can win a lot of games,” said Stein. 

 

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SCC FALLS TO DUTCHTOWN, TAKES ANOTHER OVER DE LA SALLE — The Comets (13-5) fell on Wednesday at Dutchtown, 7-3, in non-district action.

Eian Mitchell hit a two-run single and Austin Weber hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI to fuel SCC’s scoring. Connor Western collected two hits. Connor Smith took the loss on the mound. 

Against De La Salle Thursday, Mason Bordelon had a big effort, getting the complete game win on the mound and striking out 11 on the way to a 13-1 victory at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. He scattered four hits. At the plate, he went 2 for 3 with four RBIs. Kameron Keller went 4 for 4 with two RBIs.