Vandebilt Catholic baseball outlasts E.D. White, heads to state for fourth straight year
Anytime E.D. White and Vandebilt Catholic meet in any sport, anticipation is high.
Add the allure of the LHSAA baseball playoffs and the high stakes of the winner going to state, and it's no surprise that thousands of fans turned out to Calvin Buxton Field at Harold Haydel Park Thursday through Saturday for the quarterfinal series between the two rivals.
The series lived up to the hype. EDW opened with a 6-2 win on Thursday night, with VCHS evening the series with a 5-2 win on Friday night then clinching a spot in Sulphur with a 6-3 win Saturday afternoon.
Weimer wheels and deals in Game 1
Thursday was set to be a pitchers' duel between Cardinals ace Tyler Weimer and Terriers star James Guidry, and while Guidry pitched well — going six innings, allowing just three earned runs and striking out eight on 92 pitches — Weimer turned in one of the season's great performances of any area pitcher given the circumstances. With the pressure of a road playoff game against his school's biggest rival, the senior threw a complete game on 113 pitches, striking out 10 batters, and allowing just two runs. To cap it off, he also got two hits at the plate.
Vandebilt bats awaken in Game 2
After getting shut out in the final five innings on Thursday, the VCHS bats did enough to keep the season alive for one more day on Friday. At least one run scored in each of Game 2's first four innings. By the third, when Spencer Guilbeau doubled off the wall to lead off, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on an Ethan Robert single, the Terriers offense had already provided enough run support for their pitching staff, which allowed just two runs — one by starter Owen Gaudet and one by closer John Wade.
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Big inning seals Game 3
Vandebilt Catholic led after the top of the third on Saturday, but only by a single run. In the bottom of the third, though, the Terriers put Saturday's game and the series out of reach.
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Guilbeau started the rally with a hit-by-pitch, and he was driven in by a Jahryi Coleman double. Coleman himself scored on an Ethan Robert double, who scored on an Owen Gaudet single. Finally, Gaudet came around on a Jacob Fairchild groundout for the fourth and final run of the inning.
What's next
Vandebilt will play either Lafayette Christian or Teurlings Catholic in the Division II select semifinals.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Vandebilt Catholic baseball outlasts rival E.D. White, heads to state
