Baseball: Holy Cross-St. Paul’s open playoffs live on CCS as many other area teams in action Thursday

Area Prep Baseball Playoff Report for Thursday, April 29

Regional Round action in the LHSAA baseball playoffs gets underway on several fronts this evening.

There was a dramatic and unexpected reseeding of teams in Division I following a forfeiture ruling Wednesday against St. Paul’s.

As a result, an opening round matchup in the regional round pits two power teams against one another as No. 5 Holy Cross hosts No. 12 St. Paul’s. You can watch the opening game live on CrescentCitySports.com tonight at 6:30 p.m. Game three on Saturday, if necessary, would also be live on CrescentCitySports.com.

The Tigers (22-9) are seeded fifth and were co-champions of District 9-5A with John Curtis Christian, whom they defeated twice.

Outfielder Davis Stephens leads the Holy Cross attack, batting .409 with five home runs and 39 RBI. Tulane signee Gavin Schulz is hitting .365 with five home runs and 27 RBI. Loyola signee Josh Orr is batting .333 with a home run and 21 RBI.

On the mound, Orr is 5-1 with a 2.68 ERA while the Tigers got a boost with the recent return of Southeastern Louisiana signee Lance Lauve, who pitched a perfect game in a win over John Curtis.

LSU commit Kade Anderson is a special talent for the Wolves who were 21-8 on the field before having to forfeit all 29 games.

The sophomore is batting .385 with a home run and 21 RBI and on the mound, Anderson is 7-1 with a 0.52 ERA. Trent Caime is batting .309 with a home run and 20 RBI. Matthew Russo batting .356 with five home runs and 26 RBI. Trent Caime is hitting .309 with a home run and 20 RBI.

The Tigers and Wolves met in a three-game, home-and-home series in the regular season with St. Paul’s winning two of the three matchups.

Also in Division I, No. 8 St. Augustine (14-16) entertains No. 9 Archbishop Shaw (15-18) in game one at 6 p.m. at Wesley Barrow Stadium. The two teams are meeting for the third time in eight days. St. Aug downed Shaw 4-2 on April 21 at Barrow while the Eagles edged the Purple Knights 4-3 at Winterscheidt Stadium on April 24.

In Division II, No. 16 Haynes Academy (13-11) plays game one at No. 1 seed and unbeaten Parkview Baptist (28-0) at 4:30 p.m., No. 15 Patrick Taylor (13-11) starts its series at St. Louis Catholic (19-12) at 7 p.m. and No. 13 De La Salle (12-13) opens its series at No. 4 University High (15-14) at 4 p.m.

In Division III, district rivals in No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas (24-6) and No. 13 Northlake Christian (6-19) collide in Hammond at 5:30 p.m.

In select school playoff action, No. 8 St. Augustine (14-16) entertains No. 9 Archbishop Shaw (15-18) in game one at 6 p.m. at Wesley Barrow Stadium. The two teams are meeting for the third time in eight days. St. Aug downed Shaw 4-2 on April 21 at Barrow while the Eagles edged the Purple Knights 4-3 at Winterscheidt Stadium on April 24.

In Class 3A, No. 19 Loranger (11-15) opens its three-game regional round series at Lutcher (23-6) at 6 p.m.