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With his team down 1-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth in Tuesday’s Division IV quarterfinal contest, Central Catholic Coach Tyler Jensen gathered his top-seeded squad before their at bat and simply told them to relax and stop trying to do too much because they still had plenty of time to counter No. 8 Ascension Christian’s lone run in the fast-moving contest.
The advice worked as Central Catholic scored three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth en route to a 7-1 victory and advanced to the semifinals for the sixth straight year (five in Class 1A and one in Division IV).
“You got to remember those are 14-18-year-old guys,” Jensen said. “There are a couple of hundred people here. You’re not used to these types of crowds in regular season games. Usually, you got half of this here, and you get over anxious, you’re used to having success and things start going against you a little bit and you just get frustrated.”
Jensen said his job is to calm them down and let leadership do the rest.
Central Catholic (26-7) will face No. 4 Ascension Catholic May 10 at 5:30 p.m. on field 40 at McMurray Park in Sulphur.
“I think it’s one of those things … we kind of take for granted around here,” Jensen said. “I know I don’t. It’s a pretty amazing thing, and it just shows you the type of guys we have come through this program and how hard they work. These guys very easily could have been not hard workers with all the guys that we had returning and just expected to get there, but from day one, they’ve gotten after it, maybe as hard as any team that we’ve had.”
Meanwhile, Ascension Christian (21-10) won its first playoff game in school history a week ago with a 10-5 victory against No. 9 St. Frederick and was making its first quarterfinal appearance in school history Tuesday.
In Tuesday’s win, Gregory Leger and Thomas Garber led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back singles to left field before Blake Hidalgo laid down a bunt on which Ascension Christian’s first baseman unsuccessfully tried to get the lead runner out at third base, loading the bases.
Samarick Paul followed with a two-RBI double over the right fielder’s head before Tyler Longman laid down a squeeze bunt for a 3-0 lead.
In the fifth, Central Catholic added four runs with two outs.
With a runner at second base, Leger grounded out to shortstop, and the throw was wide left of first base, allowing a run to score.
Two batters later, Hidalgo connected on a two-RBI single to centerfield to give Central Catholic a 6-1 advantage.
The last run came home on Longman’s RBI-single to centerfield.
“Hats off (to Central Catholic),” Ascension Christian Coach Conrad Gayle said. “That’s why they’re the No. 1 seed. They’ve been there before, and they knew what it takes, and they play a full seven-inning game. I got so much respect for that ball club and that coach. It’s a well-coached team. As you can tell, it’s (a) very experienced team, and we had them. Nic (Montalbano) threw a great few innings, and that fourth inning we left some balls here and there that you kind of want back, and they made you pay. … That’s why they won it last year, and they have a great shot to win it again.”
Ascension Christian scored its run in the top of the first when Payton Bahlinger, who reached on a leadoff walk, stole second base and advanced to third base on a passed ball, scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Mason Braud.
After that initial score, Leger — Central Catholic’s pitcher — and his defense didn’t allow a runner past second base the remainder of the game. Leger earned the win as he tossed a two-hitter. In seven innings, he surrendered one run (one earned) on two hits with one walk, one hit batter and fanned five.
“Gregory Leger was absolutely outstanding on the mound,” Jensen said. “His pitch count was like below 80 pitches in seven innings, which is just unheard of, especially for him. He’s a guy that sometimes maybe his pitch count gets a little higher, but he was really, really, really good. Our defense was really, really, good. But it was just good to see us execute, especially in the later innings. The game was really fast and was going by really fast. Our guys calmed down, started having a good approach at the plate and made some things happen.”
Paul led Central Catholic with a 2-for-3 performance with a double and two RBIs, while Hidalgo was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs. Other top Central Catholic offensive contributors included Longman, 1-for-2, with two RBIs, and Garber, 2-for-3.
Nic Montalbano suffered the loss. In six innings, he surrendered seven runs (three earned) on nine hits with one strikeout.
Offensively, Braud led Ascension Christian with a 1-for-2 performance with an RBI, while Josh Diez was 1-for-2 with a double.
While Ascension Christian had four errors, the team overcame three of them and made some nice plays.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” Gayle said. “We competed, and that’s all you can ask from a high school team, from my guys, is to compete. … At some point throughout any game, you’re going to face adversity, and we did. We had some errors, but we competed. Nic is our guy. He’s our bulldog on the mound, and we’re going to compete behind him, and he did a heck of a job to keep us in the game.”

Morgan City High School honored its athletes in its spring sports Monday at Morgan City High School.
Awards were distributed in boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, boys’ tennis, girls’ tennis, boys’ track and field, girls’ track and field, boys’ golf, girls’ golf, baseball, softball, Fancy Dancers, cheerleading, twirlers, boys’ bowling, girls’ bowling, boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer.
Below is a list of the award winners:
Fancy Dancers
—Senior Plaques: Ali Tregle and Paige Landry.
—Fighting Tiger Award: Landry.
Baseball
—Best Pitcher: Ethan Scioneaux.
—Best Fielder: Josh Lorenzo.
—Best Hitter: Morrquise Charles.
—Captain: Alex Brocato.
—Fighting Tiger: Chris Pitre.
—Most Improved: Ross Albritton.
Girls’ basketball
—Mountain Mover: Courtney Welsh.
—Most Rebounds: Sh’Diamond Holly.
—Fighting Tiger: Indeara Chenevert.
—Rookie of the Year: Deryon Johnson.
—Defensive Award: Sh’Diamond Holly.
—Offensive Award: Alisha Singleton.
—Leave Your Mark: Hailey Lewis.
Softball
—Dynamic Duo: Kennedy Hebert and Scottie Metrejean.
—Most Improved: Madalyn Hebert.
—Fighting Tiger: Hannah Prado.
Golf
—Boys’ MVP: Jared Gore.
—Girls’ MVP: Brandi Albarado.
Tennis
—Most Improve: Karmen Peterson and Fernando Torres.
—Fighting Tiger: Brandon Rock, Jolee Nini and Niki Ring.
Boys Soccer
—Forward Award: Brayan Aleman.
—Midfield Award: Irving Montes.
—Defense Award: Jared Gore.
—Fighting Tiger Award: Tristen McCullough.
Girls Soccer
—Forward Award: Angie Sagastizado.
—Midfield Award: Madison Barrilleaux.
—Defense Award: Hayden Trotter.
—Fighting Tiger Award: Allie Vincent.
Boys Basketball
—MVP: Makye Richard.
—Tiger Tradition: Morrquise Charles.
—Most Improved: Deondre Grogan.
Cheerleading
—The Top Banana Award: Captain Kortney Hillen.
—The Next Best Thing Award: Co-Captain Mallory Fontenot.
—The Bee’s Knees Award: Maliyah Williams.
—The Raindrops on Roses Award: Juliet Thibodaux.
Girls Bowling
—Fighting Tiger Award: Hannah Pipes, Meghan Amador, Marissa Davis and Ali Tregle.
Boys Bowling
—Fighting Tiger Award: Jayson Hidalgo, Trevor Tong, Hau Vo and Jason Myers.
Twirlers
—Captain: Hannah Pipes.
—Co-Captain: Cassie Aloisio and Mallory Jackson.
Boys Track and Field
—Track MVP: 4x400-meter relay: Jared Hawkins, Deondre Grogan, Devonte Grogan and Zion Landry.
—Captain Award: Hawkins.
—Field MVP: Jake Arceneaux.
Girls Track and Field
—Track MVP: Sh’Diamond Holly.
—Field MVP: Jacelyn Bouilion.

Berwick overpowered Patterson late in both games of the Class 3A, best-of-three, regional round playoff series in Berwick to advance to its first quarterfinal since the 2007 season.
The Panthers (23-9), the No. 3 seed, got one run in the fifth inning and two in the sixth to pull away for a 6-1 win Friday.
Berwick used the same recipe Saturday, breaking open another tight game with three runs each in the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 7-1 win to advance quarterfinals this weekend at Berwick.
The Panthers will host No. 6 Buckeye Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. If necessary, a third game will be played Saturday at 5 p.m.
In Saturday’s finale, both starters — Austin Price of Berwick and Joel Singleton of Patterson — kept the bats quite.
Patterson grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Jamey Fabre’s RBI-double to left field before Berwick responded with the tying run in the fourth when Andrew Askew scored on a wild pitch.
Berwick scored three more runs in the sixth, one on Price’s fielder’s choice and another on a two-RBI single by Cody Roberie to centerfield.
The Panthers added three more runs in the seventh via Lucas Hatch RBI single to centerfield, a wild pitch and a Roberie RBI single to right-centerfield.
Patterson’s Singleton suffered the loss as he pitched 6.2 inning and surrendered seven runs (two earned) on four hits with six walks and fanned four.
“We knew coming in (playing) Patterson, a …. rival, that (Patterson) Coach (Ryan) Jensen does a great job of getting them ready to play us, and it’s always a battle, so we told our kids to play with emotion but don’t let that emotion beat us,” Berwick Coach John Menard said. “We talked about doing the little things well throughout the game to put pressure on them late. Their pitcher, Joel (Singleton), also did a great job of keeping us off balance longer than we would have liked.”
Price also had his best stuff on the mound for Berwick, throwing a complete game allowing just an earned run on four hits with two walks, one hit batter and five strikeouts.
“Looking at the stats, they had just one more hit than us,” Jensen said. “We just had too many free passes, too many errors. Pitching and defense is what wins games, especially this time of year. Can’t say a thing about Joel’s pitching performance, sucking it up going on short rest. That’s a good team over there. They always made that big pitch or hit to keep us down. That’s why they’re the No. 3 seed.”
Patterson committed five errors and surrendered just two earned runs. Berwick had two miscues.
Roberie led the Berwick offense with a 2-for-4 performance with three RBIs. Other top Berwick offensive contributors included Kyle Pitre, 2-for-4; Hatch, 1-for-2, an RBI; and Price, an RBI and a run.
Patterson had just four hits, but three were doubles. Jamey Fabre led the team with a 1-for-4 performance with a double and an RBI, while Noah Bryant was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. John Brooks added a 1-for-3 performance with a double.
Berwick’s next opponent, Buckeye, advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Church Point 10-0 in the first game and 3-2 in game two.
Berwick 6, Patterson 1
Berwick won the first game of the series Friday, 6-1, breaking open a close game in the fifth and sixth innings.
Ahead just 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, Berwick scored a run in the inning on an error and added two more in the sixth via a Pitre sacrifice and a Hatch sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Berwick opened the game with two runs in the bottom of the first via back-to-back walks to Pitre and Hatch with the bases loaded.
Patterson cut its deficit to 2-1 in the top of the second on Singleton’s RBI groundout.
Berwick added a run in the second on a balk.
Cameron Wiley earned the win as he pitched seven innings and surrendered one run (one earned) on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Offensively, Hatch led Berwick with a 1-for-1 performance with a double and two RBIs, while Pitre collected two RBIs.
Bryant suffered the loss. In 1.2 innings, he surrendered three runs (two earned) on one hit with four walks and three hit batters.
Patterson pitching hit Berwick batters six times.
S i n g l e t o n l e d Patterson’s offense with a 1-for-3 performance with an RBI.
Additional reporting by Review Sports Editor Geoff Stoute.