St. Louis surging, look to control 4-3A race
Published 5:30 pm Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Rodrick Anderson
The COVID-19 shortened 2020 season set St. Louis Catholic back a bit, curtailing valuable experience for younger players, but the Saints have surged recently.
St. Louis has won six consecutive games after starting the season 7-11.
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“We have a pretty young roster, not a very veteran roster,” St. Louis head Matt Fontenot said. “We have a few guys that played a little last year.
“I have quite a bit of juniors and sophomores on the field. The juniors didn’t get to grow up last year. It doesn’t help when we are 7-11 to start district, and 13 of those 18 games were against 4A and 5A schools. We stacked the predistrict schedule to make them grow up in a hurry and knowing you have to play clean baseball against those teams.”
The Saints (13-11, 5-0) made a statement last week, taking control of the District 4-3A race with a 2-1 win over South Beauregard (19-3, 4-1), the top team in the Class 3A power rankings. The district rivals will face off again today at 6 p.m. in Longville.
“It was great baseball,” Deville said. “We didn’t get guys on or timely hits.
“We had guys in scoring position. Hopefully, we can get guys on and get runs. We
expect a good clean game again. We are up for the challenge.”
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The Saints are led by a pair of seniors in pitcher Parker Morgan and shortstop Evan Joubert, while a trio of sophomores makes up the heart of the Saints lineup in third baseman Reed Synder, second baseman James Reina and utility player Jake LaRocca.
St. Louis leads South Beauregard by one game in the District 4-3A standings.
“They (St. Louis) have a little confidence about them,” Fontenot said. “We haven’t been flinching lately and maybe can capitalize on other peoples errors. They expect to come out and play good baseball. I like where they are at mentally right now.”
South Beauregard has won nine of its last 10 games.
“We are playing hard. I don’t think we have peaked yet. We have to keep getting better. They are a good group of kids that get after it. They are gritty.”
South Beauregard’s Rett Bowman throws a pitch during the seventh inning of the a District 4-3A game against Iowa.
