CCHS, Berwick clinch district titles

The Central Catholic Eagles clinched the District 7-1A title Monday with a 3-1 victory against Vermilion Catholic in Amelia, while the Berwick Panthers won the District 8-3A title Friday with a 17-2 win in five innings against North Vermilion in Berwick.
Central Catholic (18-9) finished district with a 6-0 mark, while Berwick (20-7) improved to 10-0 in district. The Panthers have two games remaining against David Thibodaux. The first contest will be played Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. on the road, while the second game will be played Wednesday at Berwick at 6 p.m.
Below are recaps of Central Catholic’s and Berwick’s action as well as Morgan City’s games.
CCHS
The Central Catholic Eagles capped a perfect district season with a nail-biting district win against Vermilion Catholic.
The Eagles, who led 1-0 after an inning and extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fifth, limited Vermilion Catholic to just a run in the sixth inning. The Screaming Eagles left the bases loaded after Central Catholic reliever Thomas Mire induced a ground ball to end the inning.
Central Catholic added a run in the bottom of the sixth and held Vermilion Catholic off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh.
Luke Barbier earned the win, while Mire collected the save. In 5.1 innings, Barbier surrendered one earned run on eight hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
In 1.2 innings of relief, Mire surrendered one hit and fanned two.
Offensively, Vermilion Catholic outhit Central Catholic, 9-8.
Bryce Grizzaffi led Central Catholic with a 2-for-4 performance with a double and a run. Other top Central Catholic offensive contributors were: Mire, 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run; Hunter Daigle, 1-for-4, an RBI; and Grant Stansbury, 1-for-4, a run.
Friday, Central Catholic fell to St. Martin’s Episcopal, 10-5, in Metairie.
While Central Catholic outhit St. Martin’s 14-6, the Eagles stranded 10 on base and its pitchers combined for 12 walks.
Central Catholic took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and extended its advantage to 3-0 in the top of the third.
St. Martin’s tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the third.
After Central Catholic took a 5-3 lead in the top of the fourth, St. Martin’s took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth with five runs for an 8-5 advantage. The home team added two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Stansbury, the second of four Central Catholic pitchers, suffered the loss. In 0.2 innings, he surrendered three run (three earned) on two hits with two walks and one strikeout.
Nathan Hebb started the game for Central Catholic, and in 3.3 innings, he surrendered five runs (five earned) on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Mire led the Eagles at the plate with a 2-for-2 performance with a double, two RBIs and a run. Other top Central Catholic offensive contributors were: Stansbury, 2-for-4, a double and two RBIs; Grizzaffi, 2-for-3, a double and a run; and Tyler Longman, 2-for-2, a run.
Central Catholic will return to action Thursday when it travels to Abbeville to face Vermilion Catholic in a nondistrict game. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Berwick
The Berwick Panthers captured the District 8-3A title with a bang Friday, erupting for 15 runs in the third inning to turn a close game with North Vermilion into a blowout.
With the game tied at 2 entering the bottom of the third, Berwick produced its big inning, scoring the majority of the runs with two outs.
The Panthers had just five hits in the game as North Vermilion pitching combined for 15 walks, four hit batters, and its defense committed three errors.
Among the many runs scored in the third, two came home on a double by Lucas Hatch on his second at bat of the inning, while Brett Williams drove another two home on a single to centerfield.
As a team, the Panthers batted around twice in the inning with Williams and Hatch each batting three times.
Early on, North Vermilion scored two runs in the top of the first, while Berwick tied the game at two in the bottom of the second. The game was called after the top of the fifth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Mitchell Sanford earned the win. In four innings, he surrendered two unearned runs on three hits with one walk, one hit batter and seven strikeouts. He threw 56 pitches, 37 for strikes.
Patrick Robertson and Hatch led the Berwick offense. Robertson was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and three runs, while Hatch was 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a stolen base. Other top Berwick offensive contributors were: Williams, 1-for-1 with two RBIs, a stolen base and two runs; Reid Wiley, 1-for-2, an RBI and two runs; Kyle Pitre and Chad LaGrange, each two RBIs and two runs; Kyle Boudreaux, an RBI and two runs; and Sanford, an RBI.
Thursday, Berwick run-ruled North Vermilion, 11-1, in five innings on the road.
While North Vermilion took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Berwick scored two runs in the second, four each in the third and fourth innings and another in the top of the fifth for an 11-1 lead.
The game was called after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Pitre led the Panthers on the mound and at the plate.
On the mound, he earned the win as he tossed a two-hitter with eight strikeouts. In five innings, he surrendered one unearned run with two walks.
Offensively, he finished 2-for-3 with two home runs, four RBIs and two runs.
Other top Berwick offensive contributors were: Barrett Hover, 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run; Sanford, 1-for-3, a double, an RBI, a stolen base and a run; Robertson, 1-for-3, a triple and two runs; Hatch, 1-for-4, a double and an RBI; and Wiley, 1-for-2, two RBIs.
Morgan City
The Morgan City Tigers fell to Hanson, 8-1, in Franklin Monday in nondistrict action.
While Morgan City took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Hanson countered in the bottom of the second with six runs and added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
Hanson outhit Morgan City just 7-5, but Morgan City committed five errors to the home team’s one miscue.
Hayden Barron led Morgan City’s offense with a 1-for-3 performance with a double and an RBI.
Gage Hirschmann suffered the loss. In 1.1 innings, he surrendered six runs (five earned) on four hits with one walk, two hit batters and two strikeouts.
Friday, Morgan City fell to Vandebilt Catholic, 11-8, in District 7-4A action in Houma.
While Vandebilt Catholic trailed 6-5 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Terriers scored six runs in its fifth-inning at bat for an 11-6 lead.
Morgan City scored two runs in the top of the seventh.
Early on, Vandebilt scored a run each in the first and third innings for a 2-0 lead before Morgan City took the lead at 4-2 in the top of the fourth.
Vandebilt retook the lead at 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth before Morgan City snatched the advantage back at 6-5 in the top of the fifth.
Hirschmann, the second of three Morgan City pitchers, suffered the loss. In one inning, he surrendered three runs (two earned) on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.
Morrquise Charles started the game for Morgan City, and in three innings, he surrendered five runs (three earned) on four hits with six walks, two hit batters and eight strikeouts.
Logan Tingle and Ross Albritton led Morgan City’s offense. Tingle was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, two stolen bases and three runs, while Albritton was 1-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a run. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors were: Alex Brocato, 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run; Charles, 1-for-3, a double, a stolen base and two runs; Mitchell Mancuso, 1-for-3, an RBI; and William LaRocca, an RBI.
Morgan City (14-17) will return to action Tuesday when it resumes District 7-4A action with a 3:30 p.m. contest at Assumption.