Destrehan's hot start leads to comfortable win over Vandebilt Catholic
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Destrehan was the beneficiary of a hot start Tuesday night on the road, defeating Vandebilt Catholic 12-7 after scoring 11 runs in the first two innings.
Brock Benedetto was the Wildcats' top hitter going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Sam Steib also went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Kade Grainer finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Blake Hymel (5-1) earned the win while James Walker (3-1) picked up the loss.
James Bergeron was 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Vandebilt Catholic and Matt Bergeron followed going 3-for-4.
Call it a small sampling or the shape of things to come.
Public schools from 8-5A gained the upper hand over Catholic schools from 9-5A at the Gerard Oubre Memorial Tournament this past weekend.
Destrehan completed an unbeaten weekend, downing Central Lafourche 7-2 Sunday. The Wildcats beat Jesuit 4-3, downed Brother Martin 7-4 and defeated Holy Cross. With his team now 16-3, Wildcats coach Marty Luquet was pleased with the weekend, especially avenging an 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays on March 9.
"We felt like after losing to Jesuit last week that we had to play better against them as we did not the first time," Luquet said. "We scrapped, fought through it and were fortunate to win. We pieced everything together against Brother Martin offensively and our bullpen did a great job. Beating good teams gives us confidence. We thought we had pitching depth and this helped us understand that we do. Hahnville is very good in the tournament as well. It speaks well for our league and helps our power ratings to have two very good teams."
Destrehan plays at Vandebilt Catholic Tuesday before hosting Episcopal of Baton Rouge Thursday. The Wildcats will play at St. Paul's Saturday in a matchup of top 5A teams in the area.
Along with Destrehan, Hahnville is a real threat to reach the final eight in the state as well.
Hahnville swamped Jesuit 16-3 in a game shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
Dylan Keller paced a 17-hit Tiger attack, going 4-for-4 with five RBI while Tyler Lamers was a two-way star, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and pitching a complete-game five-hitter to improve to 3-1 on the season. Todd Porche was 4-for-4 as well. Brett Leonhard took the loss for the Blue Jays.
Hahnville improved to 12-5 with the win, going 3-1 in the tournament, including a 2-1 win in nine innings over Brother Martin and a 7-1 win over West Ouachita. Tigers coach Dave Baudry likes the way his team is playing a year after reaching the state tournament at Tulane.
"We continue to pitch very, very well," Baudry said. "Our ERA hovers right around 1.00 as a staff. We had great at-bats against Jesuit. We put balls in play well. We just did not do that in our loss to Holy Cross. We're not talking about getting to Tulane in May yet but we have aspirations to get there. Destrehan is very good and can get there as well. We have a very experienced club and our expectations are high. We must continue to improve."
Jesuit went 2-2 in the tournament and is now 13-5 on the season. Jesuit also defeated West Ouachita 5-4 and Central Lafourche 13-3. The Blue Jays will host Hahnville in a rematch on Monday, March 25 at 4 p.m.
Destrehan wraps up tournament sweep with 7-2 win over Central Lafourche.
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Sans the drama of its last two Gerard Oubre Tournament victories, Destrehan’s momentous offensive machine did not skip a beat Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats churned out seven runs on 10 hits to conclude a four game sweep of the tournament, besting Central Lafourche 7-2.
As has been the standard of late, Destrehan’s offense was consistent as the Wildcats reached base in all six innings.
In the second inning Destrehan strung together four runs in the bottom of the order. Blake Hymel, Jacob Cambre and Brennan Breaud all had runs and RBI. Tanner Hayes scored after reacing base on an error, while Ryan Brewer concluded the inning with an RBI double through the gap at second base.
Hymel, who homered in Destrehans tournament opening victory over Holy Cross, was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Breaud was 2-for-2.
Senior Jesse Bryant showed big break on his curveball in slider in six complete innings. He threw 72 pitches (49 strikes, 23 balls) and struck out six to earn the W.
Central Lafourche catcher Mason Santoyo homered in the third inning, sending a line-drive fly ball to left center field to narrow the score 4-2. Santoyo was 2-for-4, batting in the Tigers’ other run with a double in the first inning.
The Wildcats (16-3) travel to Vandebilt Catholic for a 6 p.m. start Tuesday.
Brock Benedetto hits first HR of year, paces Destrehan's 7-4 win over Brother Martin
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Brock Benedetto hit his first homer of the year and three Destrehan pitchers pieced together a 7-4 win over Brother Martin in Saturday's final game of the Gerard Oubre Memorial Tournament in Destrehan.
Destrehan starter Kade Granier struck out two and had his tailing fastball working in a scoreless first inning, but Brother Martin’s hot-hitting first baseman Owen Magee touched him for a solo homer in the second, and Granier walked three and allowed two more runs in the third.
When Granier walked Peyton Senner to lead off the fourth, Destrehan Head Coach Marty Luquet didn’t hesitate to pull his big righty.
“If a guy doesn’t have it, you can’t let him labor out there too long; it isn’t fair to him,” Luquet said. “So we went right to the 'pen, where we have guys we trust.”
Luquet’s bullpen pitched four innings of one-run ball, with Hunter Abadie stranding Granier’s runner, and Austin McDonald pitching out of trouble in the fifth when Abadie walk the first two hitters.
“That’s high school baseball,” Luquet said of dealing with the inconsistencies of pitching. “You don’t know from day to day what you’re going to get and you just hope for consistency.”
But McDonald quieted the game down, pitching the final three innings without giving up a run.
The big blow for Destrehan was a leadoff homer in the fourth by Brock Benedetto to extend his team’s lead to 5-3 after the Crusaders had come back for two in the top half of the inning.
“I was just sitting back on it,” he said. “I think my whole team did a good job with that, sitting back on the ball.”
Benedetto’s shot to left, his first homer of the year, was a steaming liner that was over the wall in four seconds, but he didn’t break his sprint until he rounded second base.
“I was looking for the ball on the way to second,” he said. Then I picked up the coach but everybody was just looking at me and I saw everybody come out the dugout, so I was like, ‘Uh oh!’”
Benedetto also singled, and the Wildcats tallied 12 hits with Sam Steib contributing three of them, Brennan Breaud driving a single and a double and Ryan Brewer picking up a pair of singles.
The loss dropped Brother Martin to 14-4; it won the early game on Saturday against Holy Cross. The Crusaders will round out the tournament Sunday at Hahnville against West Ouachita at 11 a.m.
After a 4-3 victory over Jesuit yesterday, Saturday’s win gives Destrehan tournament wins in consecutive games against elite metro-area programs.
The Wildcats will follow tomorrow’s early game at Hahnville with their own contest against Central Lafourche, scheduled for noon.
The win pushed Destrehan to 15-3, and Benedetto said he feels this year’s team has a shot to be something special.
“We’ve been talking about it since our freshman year: that this is going to be the group to win it all if we have a chance,” he said. “Everybody wants it.”
Destrehan beats No. 1 Jesuit, 4-3, behind pitching and hitting of Blake Hymel, Kade Granier
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Don’t try to sell the Destrehan Wildcats that being No. 2 makes a team try harder.
But for the second time in nine days, the Wildcats have toppled the No. 1 ranked large schools team in the New Orleans Metro area.
On Friday it was the pitching of right-handers Blake Hymel and Kade Granier and some clutch hitting by Hymel that helped carry the second-ranked Wildcats to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory against top-ranked Jesuit in the second day of the Gerard Oubre Memorial Tournament.
Hymel (4-1) pitched six innings and combined with Granier, who relieved in the seventh, to hold the Blue Jays hitless over the final four innings as the Wildcats rallied from a 3-0 deficit to break an eight-game winning streak by the Blue Jays.
It also was Hymel’s pitching, a complete-game shutout, that carried the then No. 2 Wildcats to a 10-0 victory against then top-ranked and unbeaten Brother Martin in last week’s Jay Patterson Shootout.
Destrehan (14-3) collected just three hits, but turned three double plays that helped negate a seven-hit offensive by the Blue Jays. The Wildcats won their second game of the tournament and now play host to No. 3 Brother Martin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday before closing the four-day event with a noon Sunday home game against Central Lafourche. Martin did not play Friday.
Jesuit (12-4) now plays West Ouachita at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Hahnville and then closes the tournament with a 2 p.m. Sunday game at Hahnville.
So are the Wildcats next in line for No. 1?
“They’re five or six teams in the city who all are capable of being No. 1,’’ Destrehan Coach Marty Luquet said. “As teams have their ebbs and flows during the season, they’ll all have the chance to be No. 1. We’re one of those teams.’’
The Wildcats score the game-winning run in the fifth on a groundout by third baseman Ryan Brewer with none out that scored second baseman Brennan Breaud from third. Breaud singled to lead off the inning against reliever C.J. Avrard (1-2) and advanced to third when shortstop Jace Weber followed with a bunt single up the third-base side.
“Coming into this game, we had a lot of confidence,’’ Hymel said. “The last time we beat Jesuit was my freshman year, so we knew this was a big game for us. We came out excited and ready to play.’’
The Blue Jays quickly dampened the Wildcats’ enthusiasm by stringing together four hits in the top of the second inning to score all three of their runs.
Right fielder Nathan Zimmer’s RBI-single with none out and center fielder Mitch Alexander’s two-run, two-out single were the inning’s key hits that drove home first baseman Dylan Weston, pinch runner Mason Koppens and Zimmer.
It took the Wildcats three-plus innings to respond. They needed three walks and a catcher’s interference call to record their first run via a bases-loaded walk to catcher Tanner Hayes in the fourth. Hymel then greeted reliever C.J. Avrard with a two-run single to score center fielder Brock Benedetto and Granier to knot the score at 3.
“Going up to bat I knew I was in a big situation and had to be clutch and be the guy to come through,’’ Hymel said. “Coach (Luquet) said a few words to me that gave me some confidence and I jumped on that first fastball. I knew the fastball was coming. I knew with (Avrard) coming into the game that he was coming with the fastball.’’
“(Avrard) wanted to start off with a strike,’’ Granier said.
Senior left-hander Andrew Mitchell started for Jesuit and pitched three no-hit innings before walking three batters and giving way to Avrard. All three of Destrehan’s runs against Mitchell were earned as was the game-winner against Avrard, who surrendered all three of the Wildcats hits.
“We got three runs and seven hits in the first three innings and then get no runs and no hits over the last four innings,’’ Jesuit Coach Joey Latino said. “(Hymel) settled in and did a great job. I think that was the ballgame.
“There’s no explanation for it,’’ Latino said referring to his team’s offensive shutdown. “It’s just one of those things. We gave them too many free passes. You can’t do that against a good team. You’re building innings for them.’’
Hymel had retired seven consecutive batters and had thrown 49 of his 84 pitches for strikes before giving way to Granier, who is scheduled to start against Brother Martin on Saturday.
Granier struck out third baseman Brandon Sequeira looking to open the inning, walked pinch-hitter Branden Munster before inducing pinch-hitter Joshua Koenig into a game-ending double play grounder to Weber at short.
“Blake’s pitch count had gotten up,’’ Luquet said. “He was competing. He didn’t want to give up the ball. But we don’t let (the players) make those decisions. With a fresh arm, a power pitcher and it being the seventh inning, we felt like it was time.’’
“I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes,’’ Granier said. “If I wasn’t throwing strikes, I wanted at least to find the (hitting) zone and make them hit the ball to win.
“I think we can compete with anybody in the state,’’ Granier added. “Whenever we do things right and do what we need to do, we can compete with anybody. That’s what we’re taught. Whenever we’re down, we’ve got to fight and do what we’re taught to do.’’
Sam Steib, Blake Hymel go deep, Destrehan tops Holy Cross, 12-5
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Destrehan's Sam Steib and Blake Hymel each homered and No. 3 starter Ryan Brewer pitched six strong innings for the win as the Wildcats topped Holy Cross, 12-5.
The game was 6-5 until the bottom of the sixth, when Destrehan sent 10 men to the plate and tacked on six runs, including Hymel's two-run single and an RBI single by Brewer.
Hymel tallied four RBIs in the game and Brewer collected three hits.
After winning the first game of the Gerard Oubre Memorial Tournament, Destrehan is now 13-3. Over the next two days, it will play two top teams in Jesuit (Friday) and Brother Martin (Saturday).
“This is the best weekend right here,” Brewer said of the competitive tournament. “You always got a fire in your stomach. You know it’s going to be a close game, no blowouts.”
This one threatened to be a blowout early, when Destrehan jumped ahead 3-0 in the first on Steib’s two-run homer, then 4-0 Hymel’s opposite-field shot to right.
Steib appeared to get jammed on the high and inside pitch by Holy Cross starter Andrew Scherer, but the ball appeared to keep carrying, right over the left-field fence.
“I didn’t feel like it,” Steib said when asked whether he got all of it. “I thought I popped it up.”
After scoring a run in the first off Brewer, Holy Cross got to the righty in the second, pushing across four runs to take a 5-4 lead, with UNO signee Brandon Herera’s two-run double being the key blow.
But Brewer settled down and delivered a solid six-inning, six-hit performance in which he struck out five.
“He is a No. 3, but he could be a lot of teams’ No. 1,” said Destrehan Head Coach Marty Luquet.
Brewer continuously picked at the outside corner with his fastball and mixed in a sharp curveball he was able to throw for strikes.
“That was the key: hit the corners and stay low,” Brewer said. “I was trying to work in my offspeed a lot.”
Destrehan’s big first baseman Kade Granier continued a recent string of hot hitting, going 3-for-3 with two opposite-field hits including a double. Granier scored three runs and knocked in another.
“Being 6-foot-5, they don’t give him too many things to pull, and he understands that,” Luquet said. “He hits the ball the other way and he hits it hard.”
Destrehan jumped back ahead 6-5 in the bottom of the third on doubles by Granier and catcher Tanner Hayes and a sacrifice fly by Hymel.
Holy Cross threatened to tie the game in the fifth.
After UNO signee Sammy Capielano hit a two-out double and Chip Bonura walked, a passed ball sent Capielano to third.
With the two runners on, third baseman Greg Raynal drilled a liner to dead center that sent Brock Benedetto backpedaling and squinting into the sun. But Benedetto smoothly made the catch, quelling the Tigers’ rally.
“I think he’s the best center fielder in the state,” Brewer said of Benedetto. “He’s a beast out there.”
Luquet said Benedetto’s experience with the sun in late afternoon games aided him in the tough catch.
“That’s a big play,” Luquet said. “He’s an outstanding center fielder to begin with; he can really run. To say the ball’s in the sun… he plays this field all the time.”
Holy Cross’ second pitcher Christian Clayton got out of trouble in the third and pitched a clean fourth and fifth, but gave up four singles and a walk in the decisive sixth, although the Tigers’ defense didn’t help him much, committing two errors on the infield, mishandling a tough grounder that went for a hit and allowing the speedy Benedetto to score from second base on a fielder’s choice.
Holy Cross (5-9) will look to clean things up tomorrow against South Lafourche at 5 p.m. in tournament play while Destrehan (13-3) will lock horns tomorrow with 12-3 Jesuit.
The Destrehan Fighting Wildcats fall to Lutcher 3-2
Ryan Brewer both hit and pitched well for the Destrehan Fighting Wildcats Varsity, but it wasn't enough as the Destrehan Fighting Wildcats fell to Lutcher 3-2 at Lutcher on Tuesday.
The Destrehan Fighting Wildcats Brewer was perfect at the dish, going 2-2. He singled in the second and fourth innings.
Brewer looked sharp on the mound. Brewer held Lutcher hitless over one inning, allowed no earned runs, walked one and struck out two.
Jared Poche got the win for Lutcher. He allowed two runs over six innings. Jared Poche struck out 13, walked three and gave up five hits.
The bottom of the first saw Lutcher take an early lead, 2-0. A single by Chase Caldarelra, scoring Sully Martin started the inning off. The scoreboard lit up again for Lutcher when Jackson scored on a walk by Nick Bourgeois.
Lutcher didn't relinquish the lead after scoring one run in the fourth inning when it scored on an RBI single by Jordan Oubre.
ubre.
Wildcats go 3-1 in Jay Patterson Classic
After back to back 7-0 wins over Brother Martin and Rummel, the Fighting Wildcats dropped Saturdays opener 8-2 to Jesuit. The Cats averted a losing streak by clobbering Shaw 15-4 in the nightcap.
Blake Hymel's pitching, Sam Steib's six RBIs carry No. 2 Destrehan by No. 1 Brother Martin, 7-0
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Gonzales – This week’s New Orleans Metro area baseball rankings were just a few hours old when Destrehan decided a change was in order.
Did the Wildcats ever make a statement in the process.
Blake Hymel struck out nine while pitching a complete-game shutout and left fielder Sam Steib drove in six runs to pace the second-ranked Wildcats to a 7-0 victory against top-ranked and previously unbeaten Brother Martin in an opening game of the Jay Patterson Shootout played Thursday afternoon at St. Amant’s Gator Park.
Destrehan (10-1) won its 10th straight game to replace Brother Martin (10-1) as the Metro area’s hottest team. The teams are scheduled to play again next week in the Gerard Oubre Memorial Tournament hosted by Destrehan and Hahnville.
“On the way here, somebody pulled (the Metro rankings) up on their phone (via the internet), so we knew they were going to be a tough game for us and it was,’’ Hymel said. “We have a lot of confidence right now. We had a good feeling about winning this game.’’
Hymel (3-0) allowed six hits, walked just one and threw 63 of his 98 pitches for strikes while recording five of his strikeouts on called third strikes. Six of his strikeouts came in the first three innings as the Wildcats assumed a 3-0 lead.
Destrehan’s defense turned three double plays in support of its senior right-hander. The first came on a strikeout and caught stealing throw by catcher Tanner Hayes while the final two involved shortstop Jace Weber, second baseman Brennan Braud and first baseman Kade Granier in a pair of 6-4-3 plays.
“Before the game, I felt really good,’’ Hymel said. “My bullpen went really well. After the first three innings, I saw that they really didn’t have much of a chance against me and that boosted my confidence even more.
“I was locating really well and I just felt great. My arm felt good. I know I had them guessing all day, so that made (winning) even better.’’
Steib went 3-for-4 at the plate, hit his first career home run, doubled and singled from the No. 5 hole in Destrehan’s line-up, despite striking out in his first at-bat with a runner at third base to end the first inning.
After driving home two runs via a third-inning double and a fifth-inning single, the junior left fielder crushed a Brother Martin fastball in the top of the seventh for a three-run homer that scored the game’s final three runs.
Granier plated the only run Hymel would need with a first-inning sacrifice fly one batter ahead of Steib.
“I just didn’t get down after my strikeout,’’ Steib said. “I knew we had a lot of ball ahead of us. I couldn’t let that get me down.
“We’re hitting the ball well. We’re playing solid defense and our pitching has been phenomenal,’’ Steib said in reference to Destrehan’s 10-game winning streak that included a 4-0 run through the Ouachita Christian Tournament in Monroe and a 4-3 victory against Northshore on Tuesday. “We’re playing like a family.’’
In addition to Steib, center fielder Brock Benedetto went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
“We’re a very good baseball team,’’ Destrehan Coach Marty Luquet said. “Whether we’re the best in the area, well...there still are some other teams in the area that have something to say about that.
“We’re playing good. We play hard every day," Luquet said. "We play good defense. We throw a lot of strikes and we wait for somebody to come up with the big hit. Today it was Steib.’’
Sophomore right-hander Corey Gaconi (2-1) took the loss in allowing six of Destrehan’s 10 hits and four runs. Only two of the runs were earned off of Gaconi, who walked three and struck out two before exiting in favor of Steven Farris.
Center fielder Jacob Seward and Peyton Senner each went 2-for-3 with Sewald doubling twice.
“Disappointing in all phases of the game,’’ Brother Martin Coach Mark Wisniewski said. “Our strengths and focus were not there. We’ve been pitching well, we’ve been playing really solid defense and we normally do a good job of moving base runners. We didn’t do that today.
“We didn’t deserve to win. They did.’’
Destrehan and Brother Martin continue play Friday, March 8 in the eight-team, three-day tournament with single games. Destrehan plays Rummel at 4 p.m. at East Ascension while Brother Martin plays St. Amant at Gator Park at 7 p.m.
Rummel played St. Amant Thursday night’s second game at Gator Park while Shaw played Dutchtown and Jesuit played East Ascension in the double-header played at East Ascension.
Friday’s other games have Shaw playing at East Ascension and Jesuit playing Dutchtown at East Ascension in a pair of 4 p.m. games.
“Whenever you play in all of these tournaments, you’ve got to have depth because you don’t know what is going to happen when you get to the back end of the tournament,’’ Luquet said. “I’m certainly proud of these guys. 10 in a row is 10 in a row, I don’t care who you’re playing.’’
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