LAPLACE, La. (WGNO) — Second-seeded St. Charles Catholic punched its ticket to Hammond on Thursday with a 4-1 win over Notre Dame thanks in large part to the arm of sophomore pitching sensation Brady St. Pierre.
The Comets’ ace struck out nine batters in what head coach Wayne Stein says is the best outing he has seen on the mound during his two decade-tenure with the school in Laplace, La.
“He lost his very first start to John Curtis in our tournament and he has [gone] 8-0 since,” Stein told WGNO Sports after the game. “That’s one of the best pitching performances by somebody wearing a St. Charles Catholic jersey ever in the last 20 years of me being a part of it.”
The Comets jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first after an errant throw to first by the Notre Dame pitcher on an attempted throw-out allowed Ian Arnett to score from third.
Then Austin St. Pierre woke up the Comets bats with a single to jumpstart the bottom of the next frame. With two outs and bases loaded, Ayden Authement drilled one bast first down the right-field line to score two before another bad throw allowed a third Comets runner to advance home.
The Pioneers showed life in the seventh as Tripp Mixon sent a deep shot to left-center to score one, but the Notre Dame rally fell short with a pop-fly to left leaving a runner on.
St. Pierre allowed just two hits while pitching a complete game.
Notre Dame’s Tyler Corzine lasted five complete and recorded four strikeouts on the day.
St. Charles Catholic advances to the D3 finals to face the winner top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
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