No. 5 CCHS to meet No. 1 OCS in semis Wednesday

No. 5 Central Catholic will continue its postseason journey when it faces No. 1 Ouachita Christian Wednesday at 2 p.m. at McMurry Park.
Central Catholic and Ouachita Christian will meet on Field 41.
While Ouachita Christian returns to the Division IV semifinals a year after falling to eventual state champion Ascension Catholic, Central Catholic will be returning to the semifinals after a one-year hiatus. Prior to missing the state tournament last season, Central Catholic had made six straight trips to the event.
A few of the players on this year’s team played two years ago, including senior Brooks Thomas, who pitched two years ago in the state championship loss to Ascension Christian, and senior Bryce Grizzaffi and junior Nathan Hebb, who also saw playing time.
“Sophomore year, I don’t think anybody expected me or Thomas Mire to come in like we did,” Thomas said of the Eagles’ pitchers.
However, he said it was a good experience because they were able to get rid of the nerves.
“You’re going to be not nervous but anxious no matter what’s going on, so I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a player with all the things I do, and it’s a great feeling to know that I’m more of a part of it this year and play a bigger role,” Thomas said.
The last time Central Catholic and Ouachita Christian met, Ouachita Christian was the top seed, and then-Central Catholic pitcher Bryson Barbier came in and prevented Ouachita Christian from completing a massive rally to preserve an 8-7 Central Catholic win.
While Barbier and his brother Matthew Barbier played in that game, the duo’s youngest brother, Luke, is a junior pitcher on this year’s squad.
He said his brothers have offered advice and encouragement.
“Bryson’s come up to me and just kind of prepared me for the stage and the good atmosphere. … Matthew just comes up to me and he’s kind of the motivator, just giving me some inspirational words to look forward to,” Luke Barbier said.
While a lot of the Eagles didn’t play two years ago, they did get the experience and many have had a taste of the atmosphere when they were younger as fans.
After the first pitch and everyone settles down, Central Catholic Coach Tyler Jensen said any advantage goes out the window and it’s a matter of making plays on the field.
Ouachita Christian enters Wednesday’s game on a 21-game winning streak. The squad hasn’t lost a game since March 15 when it fell to West Monroe 14-4.
Jensen watched Ouachita Christian in person Friday in their first quarterfinal game and said they are a quality team.
“They’re a very good team, typical OCS, big kids, multiple guys that can run,” Jensen said. “They’re good on the mound, good on defense, multiple guys signed to play college baseball, but I still feel like we’re hot right now. I feel like we’re one of the hotter teams in the entire state, and like I say all along, once you get to Sulphur, crazy things can happen.
“I’m not saying that as in I feel like something crazy has to happen (for us to win),” Jensen added. “I like how we match up with everybody left in our division. … The way we’ve been playing lately, I feel good about us against anybody.”
Full season stats were not readily available for Ouachita Christian.
This postseason, Gavin Shepherd leads Ouachita Christian with a .583 batting average with two doubles, four RBIs and four runs, while Dale Fulmer is batting .500 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs in the postseason.
Other top Ouachita Christian offensive performers this postseason are Britton Mulhern, who has a .467 batting average with a double, a triple, a home run and five RBIs this postseason, while Crew Wilson is batting .400 with a double, a home run and four RBIs.
On the mound this postseason, Ty Pankey has an earned-run average of 0.58. In 12 innings, he has 13 strikeouts. Fellow pitcher Seth Traweek has pitched 5.1 innings and has an ERA of 2.63 this postseason with six strikeouts, while Kade Woods has an ERA of 0.00 this postseason with eight strikeouts.
This season, Grizzaffi leads Central Catholic’s offense with a .375 batting average. The Southeastern Louisiana University signee has two home runs, two triples, 11 doubles, 27 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
Thomas is batting .337 with 14 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.
On the mound, Central Catholic’s Barbier has an 8-2 record with a 2.55 ERA and 51 strikeouts.
Central Catholic’s Caleb Menina sports a 6-3 record with a 2.39 ERA with 68 strikeouts and Trent Hillen has a 5-3 mark with a 2.35 ERA and 72 strikeouts.
Ouachita Christian’s road to the semifinals featured a two-game sweep of No. 16 St. Martin’s Episcopal by scores of 9-0 and 19-4 and a two-game sweep of Sacred Heart by scores of 2-1 and 9-3.
Central Catholic topped No. 12 Catholic High-Pointe Coupee in three games in the first round, bouncing back from an 8-3 loss in the first game with 5-1 and 9-8 wins to clinch the series.
In the quarterfinals, the Eagles defeated No. 4 St. John in two games by scores of 9-5 and 5-3.
Wednesday’s semifinal winner will advance to Friday’s 3 p.m. final where it will meet the winner of No. 2 Ascension Catholic and No. 6 Opelousas Catholic. Ascension Catholic and Opelousas Catholic will play at 11 a.m. Wednesday.