Proposed parish pipeline provides promise
May 3, 2011
Rebecca Cheramie
May 5, 2011
It was E.D. White pitcher Jacob Rodrigue’s 18th birthday Thursday.
It’s pretty safe to say that he was the life of the party on his memorable day.
Riding a complete game shutout from the birthday boy righty, E.D. White rolled into the second round of the Class 3A state baseball playoffs with a 10-0 mercy rule victory against Patterson.
“I knew I was going to have a good day today when I was in the bullpen,” Rodrigue said. “It was my birthday, too, so I just had everything going for me today.”
To say that Rodrigue had ‘everything going for him’ is probably a bit of an understatement. On his first day as an 18-year-old, Rodrigue allowed just one hit and maneuvered through Patterson’s lineup with little-to-no trouble in every inning.
He also did so with a stiff breeze blowing at his face throughout the game, which means that any baseball hit into the air would carry toward the outfield fences, a recipe for disaster for most starting pitchers.
“It was the first time in two weeks that we had the wind blowing out because of the cold front coming through last night, which got that north wind blowing all game at about 10 miles per hour,” E.D. White coach Shane Trosclair said. “But he threw strikes and his curveball was outstanding today.”
“I made it a point all day to try and keep the ball down,” Rodrigue added. “I knew if I got it up, I’d have trouble.”
But trouble was averted and Rodrigue kept Patterson off the scoreboard and out of the win column.
To celebrate the victory and the pitcher’s performance, Rodrigue received a gift from his teammates, a Gatorade bath, the icing on the cake of the pitcher’s perfect birthday.
“I couldn’t have asked for today to be any better,” the pitcher said with a smile.
But the cold shower wasn’t the only gift the Cardinals gave their pitcher, they gave him plenty offense, as well.
E.D. White opened the game with four runs in the first inning, which gave the pitcher all the ammo he needed to keep the Cardinals on top for good.
Getting off to a fast start was something Trosclair said his team emphasized in preparation. But he added that he didn’t know if that goal would be attained because of the Lumberjacks’ familiarity with the Cardinals.
Patterson and E.D. White share a district and had met twice in the regular season with the Cardinals coming out on top in each meeting.
“Playing an opponent who knows us well that’s in our district, there was a lot of nerves coming into the game because of that,” Trosclair said. “But we were able to get a four-spot in the first and I think that settled us back down.”
With the lead in-hand and an 8-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cardinals closed the game in style, as pinch-hitter Philip Ledet made his only swing of the day count, stroking a two-run, walk-off home run to close the game.
“Coach told me to go get loose and this is something I’ve been used to. I’ve been coming off the bench all season,” Ledet said. “I just know if I get that one good pitch, I need to hit it. Today, I was able to do that.”
Trosclair agreed and said Ledet’s pop off the bench gives the team an added element as they continue their playoff push.
“He can really swing it,” the coach said. “He puts on a show in batting practice.”
With the win, E.D. White moved on to face Erath in the second round of the playoffs yesterday with the score of that game unavailable as of press-time.
And while Trosclair knows Rodrigue won’t be quite as excited to be 18-years and a few days old, he admitted he wouldn’t mind if every day would be his pitcher’s birthday.
“I hope he turns 18 in the next round, too,” Trosclair said with a laugh.
Elsewhere in the Tri-parish area:
While E.D. White hit and pitched their way to the second round, other area teams faltered and lost in the opening round of the playoffs.
In Class 4A, No. 24-seed Vandebilt Catholic fell 12-0 to No. 9-seed Ruston.
Across the bracket, it was a similar result for No. 23 Morgan City, who fell 12-1 to West Ouachita.
And in Class B, Houma Christian wasn’t able to build on a district title-winning season, bowing out 7-0 to Glenmora.
Not all was lost for area teams, as two St. Mary Parish schools held strong and moved onto the second round.
In Class 3A, Berwick defeated Loranger 4-3. With the win, they traveled to take on Holy Cross Tuesday with a score not available as of press time.
Central Catholic also stayed alive in Class 1A, pounding Oberlin 12-2. They advanced to take on St. John in a road contest.
While most classifications opened postseason play this past week Class 5A waits until this week to get revved up.
Central Lafourche relied on a victory over South Lafourche to clinch the last spot in the playoffs. The Trojans will take on Class 5A’s No. 1-seed Catholic of Baton Rouge in the opening round of the postseason.
The Bayou District’s champion is also going to postseason play, as Thibodaux earned the No. 24 seed and will travel and take on No. 9 Mandeville.
