Jesuit-Catholic baseball rivalry renewal set for semifinals Thursday in Hammond

The most storied program in Louisiana prep baseball history is set to square off with one of the most successful, most talented teams in the state in the Division I semifinals Thursday in Hammond when No. 5 seed Jesuit battles top seed Catholic at 7 p.m. at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.

You can watch the game live on CrescentCitySports.com and listen to it live on NASH ICON 106.1 FM.

Jesuit is the defending Division I state championship and the Blue Jays have won 21 state titles, the most in Louisiana prep baseball history. The Blue Jays have also finished second nine times, most in state history.

Catholic has prevailed over Jesuit the last three times the two teams have met in the playoffs covering four games.

Catholic swept Jesuit in two games in the 2016 Class 5A quarterfinals in Baton Rouge. The Bears also defeated Jesuit 8-3 in the 2013 regional round and beat the Blue Jays 9-8 in the regional round of the 2010 playoffs.

Jesuit defeated Catholic 4-1 in the 2008 semifinals.

A year ago, Jesuit downed Catholic 8-6 at John Ryan Stadium in a regular season contest.

Catholic captured the Class 5A state championship in 2010, downing Lafayette 8-1 in the title game.

The Bears played in the 2017 title game, falling to John Curtis Christian. Catholic also reached the championship game in 1992. Overall, the Bears have finished second seven times.

Catholic (29-7) earned the top seed and swept through No. 8 Archbishop Shaw in two games in the quarterfinals.

“It’s been an awesome group of guys to be around from the very beginning,” Catholic coach Brad Bass said. “It’s been fun all the way throughout with a great bunch that has great chemistry. They have answered every challenge all year long. It has been a heck of a ride.”

A deep team, the Bears had to deal with huge adversity early on in 2022.

“It’s been a group effort,” Bass said. “We had key injuries early the season with our top three pitchers being injured early. Guys stepped up and guys have played great defense and I really like our offense. It is a total team effort. Everyone bails everyone out by playing well.”

Catholic has a wealth of talent with 11 players committed to play at the next level, including senior Grant Breaux and freshman Jack Ruckert (LSU), sophomore William Schmidt (Mississippi State), senior Ben Robichaux and junior Clayton Pourciau (UL), senior CJ Sturiale (Louisiana Tech), juniors Alex Ainsworth and Cole Cranford (Tulane), senior William Boneno (Johns Hopkins), senior Matthew Reinholtz (BRCC) and senior Dalton Wilson along with junior Will Riley (Spring Hill).

Jesuit (23-13) is the fifth seed. The Blue Jays advanced, overcoming No. 4 Byrd in three games in Shreveport.

Jesuit defeated Byrd 6-1 in the 2021 Division I state title game.

“At this point, getting to the Final Four, we know that every game is a challenge,” Jesuit coach Kenny Goodlett said. “We are playing a really good, well coached team. We’re looking forward to the challenge. Our guys are excited. We’ve played Dutchtown, Live Oak, West Monroe and the teams in our league and they are up there with all of them, very talented.”

Goodlett believes his team believes in itself.

“I believe that playing a good Byrd team on the road and losing game one and having to come back to win on a hot day really gave our guys a lot of confidence,” Goodlett said. “Byrd put the ball in play a lot over the weekend. We had to make all the plays and we did. We feel our team has confidence and we are pretty loose. That’s where you want to be right now.”

While Jesuit has very good pitchers in Ryan Porche, Holden Hess and freshman Jake Moreci, a key player returned from injury just in time for Blue Jays and he is making a difference.

“Getting William Good back is a big part of our lineup,” Goodlett said. “We plugged him in at the top of the order and he got the save in game three and gives us an extra arm to go to. He is a leader on the team. He had a hand injury and he is still fighting through it but he is competing. We’re excited about playing at Southeastern and it will allow all schools to get more fans there. It should be a great environment against an outstanding team.”

Bass knows what he is up against.

“Jesuit is who they are,” Bass said. “They will not beat themselves. You have to find a way to beat them. Most high school games find someone losing the game, rather than someone winning it. They will get timely hits and make plays and have good pitching. That’s what this season is, facing good teams. We’re fired up for the challenge and ready to go get in a fist fight.”