Catholic High hammers Byrd in season finale

Published 5:30 am Sunday, April 22, 2018

LAFAYETTE — The Catholic High Panthers beat the Byrd Yellow Jackets on April 21 at Teurlings Catholic stadium in their final game of the regular season.

The Panthers won 10-2.

Coming into the game, the Panthers were 21-9 and faced a Yellow Jackets team that was 16-16. Despite being a .500 team, Catholic High Head Baseball Coach David Jordan said the Byrd team is a tough opponent. 

“We’ve seen them before,” Jordan said. “They’re a well-coached team and they’re definitely not afraid to play good clubs.”

Jordan said he liked the way his team played overall.

“I think we did a great job at the plate,” Jordan said. “A lot of two hit RBIs and a lot of productive outs.”  

For the Panthers, the story of the game was their offense. Scoring seven of their 10 runs in the second and third innings, the Panthers took the game early with hits from key players like third baseman Dylan LeBlanc and outfielder Broc Romero.

“Dylan had a great day at the plate,” Jordan Said. “ Broc had a great day at the plate as well as on the mound.”

LeBlanc, who had two hits and Romero, who also finished with multiple hits as well, were two driving forces for the Panthers’ success, according to Jordan.

Jordan said he was really impressed with the way his team played, specifically hitting the short ball thanks to the bottom of the order coming up and getting on base for the Panthers.

“I think we did a really great job with sacrifice bunts,” Jordan said. “I think they (Byrd) had a hard time; they were perfectly placed bunts down the line in no man’s land.”

Jordan said with his lineup, he knows his team can run a little bit, so they flat-out outran the throws and that’s how they were able to get away from the Yellow Jackets.

“Our small ball really helped us out,” Jordan said. “Usually in sacrifice bunt situations like that, we’re willing to trade them, but they didn’t get anybody out and of course that’s out we blew it open.” 

Next for the Panthers is the playoffs and Jordan said he and his club feel confident with the way they’ve been playing as of late.

“We’re lucky this year because we’re going to be home— which is big,” Jordan said. “In our division, all the rounds except for the semis and finals are best two-out-of-three.

Jordan said with their pitching staff, they feel pretty good and he knows his bats will come to play.

“I think offensively, we have a lot of guys in our line up that are really hot right now, so we seem to be jelling at the right time.”