Catholic enjoys pitching dominance, eliminates Curtis to advance to Sulphur

Catholic of Baton Rouge is the defending Division I state champion, having beaten John Curtis Christian in the championship game a year ago.

The Bears are the top-seed in Select Division I this season.

Facing John Curtis in a rematch in the quarterfinals, the feeling was that the ninth-seeded Patriots would provide a stiff test for the Bears.

That did not materialize.

When you play two games covering 14 innings and you give up no runs on just two hits, that is sheer dominance and you are not going to lose.

Catholic turned that trick, completing a two-game sweep with a 3-0 victory at Grizzly Field Thursday evening after handling the Patriots 10-0 on a no-hitter in game one on Wednesday.

The Bears took advantage of mistakes by the Patriots to score three unearned runs.

The Bears scored two runs in the top of the first inning on two hit batters and both scored on an error. That would be all Mississippi State commit William Schmidt would need.

Schmidt pitched a gem, allowing just two hits. He walked four and struck out five, using 111 pitches.

The Bears scored in the seventh on a pair of errors to cap the scoring.

Houston commit Trip Dobson had two hits in the game, including a double and a single. Daniel Harden added a double for the Bears.

Mississippi State signee Michael O’Brien pitched well but took the loss for the Patriots (19-10-1). O’Brien pitched six innings, allowing no earned runs on just three hits. O’Brien walked four and struck out five. Delgado commit Josh Eames pitched the seventh inning. Reed Duthu had both hits for John Curtis.

Catholic (36-2) advances to the semifinals in Sulphur to take on the winner of No. 5 Northwood and No. 13 Archbishop Rummel, who play game one of their best-of-three series Friday evening in Shreveport. The semifinal game is set for 5 p.m. next Thursday, May 11 at McMurry Park.

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