Parish baseball teams advance to post-season

Three of the four Evangeline Parish Baseball teams have advanced to the 2015 LHSAA baseball playoffs. Sacred Heart, Pine Prairie and Mamou have all earned spots in their respective brackets and will begin play this week. For each of the teams, the ultimate goal is the state tournament, which will be played in Sulphur on May 15 and 16.
The Sacred Heart Trojans know all too well what it will take to get back to Sulphur. Sacred Heart, the 2014 state runners-up, made an appearance in the state tournament just one year ago. The Trojans are coming off a tremendous regular season. Sacred Heart currently holds an overall record of 24-4 and the district 5-1A championship trophy. Because of their outstanding record, the Trojans garnered the number two seed in the playoffs.
Sacred Heart will host the number 31 seeded Varnado Wildcats out of district 6-1A on Thursday at Aswell-Cappell field. The Wildcats sport an overall record of 6-17. Only two of Varnado’s wins came against teams with a winning record. The two teams have no common opponents on the year. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m.
The Pine Prairie Panthers, runners-up in district 5-3A, are also familiar with playoff baseball. The Panthers made the 2014 playoffs as the number 24 seed, losing to Iowa in the first round. Pine Prairie, with an overall record of 17-8, will fill the number 22 seed in this year’s playoffs. The Panthers were the district runners-up in 2015.
Pine Prairie will travel to Crowley to face off against the Notre Dame Pioneers in the first round. Notre Dame is a perennial baseball powerhouse and is the number 11 seed. The Pioneers enter the playoffs with an overall record of 16-12 and represent district 6-3A as the third place team. Neither squad has a common opponent this year. The game will be played on Friday at Miller Field. Game time is at 6 p.m.
The Mamou Demons used a strong end of the season push to earn the number 30 seed in this year’s class 2A bracket. The Demons won seven of their last 11 games to propel themselves into the post-season. Mamou participated in the 2014 playoffs, winning their first round game over Newman 6-5. They subsequently lost to Oak Grove in the regional round of the playoffs. The Demons are 9-17 on the year.
Mamou must travel to Oak Grove on Friday for their first round matchup. The Tigers are the number three seeded team and enter the playoffs with an overall record of 17-7 and are the district 2-2A runners-up. Oddly enough, both Oak Grove and Mamou have one common opponent, Kinder High School. The Tigers lost to the Yellow Jackets earlier in the year at the Ouachita Christian tournament by the score of 15-11. The Demons faced off against Kinder in district 4-2A play, losing twice the Yellow Jackets by the scores of 7-1 and 2-0. Game time is set for 6 p.m.