St. Charles Catholic tops Notre Dame to reach Division III baseball final

Wayne Stein is one win away from a rare double.

Stein won a state championship in his first season as head football coach at St. Charles Catholic in December, defeating Notre Dame in the semifinals before knocking off top-seeded Lafayette Christian in the championship game.

Five months later, Stein is back in his familiar spot as baseball coach of the Comets, and his team is playing for another championship after defeating Notre Dame 4-1 in a Division III semifinal Thursday in LaPlace.

The second-seeded Comets (27-9) – who lost to Notre Dame in the 2021 Division III championship game – jumped on the Pios quickly in Thursday’s rematch, scoring a run in the bottom of the first and three more in the second.

That was more than enough to back the pitching of Brady St. Pierre, who pitched a two-hitter and struck out nine. St. Pierre took a shutout into the seventh and the Comet defense played error-free behind him.

Ayden Authement doubled, singled and drove in three of the four St. Charles Catholic runs. Ian Arnett also had two of the Comets’ seven hits.

St. Charles Catholic has allowed three runs in three playoff victories – a two-game sweep of Isidore Newman last weekend and Thursday’s victory.

The Comets, who are in the finals for the third straight postseason and the ninth time in school history, will meet top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas, 9-0 winners Thursday over No. 5 seed Episcopal, for the Division III title at 6 p.m. Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana’s Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.