Broncos, Bucs cross paths again, district rivals meet in semis
A pair of quarterfinal sweeps laid the path for what could be the biggest playoff series in the state this week.
Rivals No. 2 Barbe and No. 11 Sam Houston will for a best-of-three series starting on Thursday for a spot in the Non-select Division I baseball championship
series next week at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
Barbe swept the regular-season series for the first time since 2016. The Bucs will host the semifinal series starting with Game 1 at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The last time the teams met in the postseason was an 11-inning thriller in the 2021 semifinals. Barbe won 1-0. The Bucs also beat the Broncos 8-2 in the 2019 final.
Barbe (34-4) once again relied on the arms of Jairus Miller and Lawton Little to sweep No. 10 Dutchtown (27-14) on Saturday, 2-0 and 4-0. The duo have combined to pitch four shutouts in the postseason and allowed seven hits while striking out 35 batters.
In the first game, Littleton (10-1) scattered four hits while striking out 12 batters and walking two. In the series finale, Miller (13-0) pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and two walks.
J.D. Alexander went 4-for-7 in the series with the Griffins with two RBIs, three runs and a home run.
Sam Houston swept No. 11 Slidell 4-0 and 4-2 on Saturday.
Starting pitchers Owen Galley and Cole Flanagan went the distance for the Broncos. Galley held the Tigers to four hits in the first game with three strikeouts and no walks, while Flanagan struck out eight and pitched a two-hitter in the second game.
More SW La. matchups
The Bucs and Broncos won't be the lone all-Southwest Louisiana pairing this week.
In the Non-select Division IV quarterfinals, No. 3 DeQuincy will host No. 6 Vinton in a single-elimination game at 6 p.m. Thursday, while No. 2 Welsh will host No. 7 Grand Lake at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
DeQuincy (23-11) and Vinton (17-11), District 4-2A rivals, met twice in the regular season. The Tigers won 6-0 on March 20, while the Lions took the second game 3-2 on April 8 for their first win against DeQuincy since 2018. Grand Lake (22-7) is looking to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2022, while Welsh (21-10) seeks its first trip to Sulphur since it was a semifinalist in 2019.
Long time coming
After nearly 30 years, the Westlake Rams are back in the semifinals.
Westlake finished off No. 5 Kaplan with a 5-1 win on Saturday to sweep the Non-select Division III quarterfinal series. Bradyn Spears held the Pirates to one run on two hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
The last time the Rams played this deep into the playoffs they won the 1996 Class 3A state championship.
Westlake (26-10) will get a chance at redemption when they travel to No. 1 Sterlington (33-7) this week. The Panthers knocked the Rams out in the quarterfinals last year.
Cinderella run ends
After knocking off the No. 13 and No. 4 seeds in the first two rounds of the Non-select Division I playoffs, No. 20 Sulphur lost to No. 5 Benton in three games last week.
The Tors (21-20) took the first game 10-4, then lost the second in a 4-3 battle.
In the deciding Game 3, the Tors' Kayden Kochell hit a single with one out in the seventh inning, but the Tigers (35-4) turned a double play to win 1-0.
Champs still alive
Defending Non-select Division III champion No. 3 South Beauregard (24-9) beat No. 6 Berwick twice, 2-0 and 14-2, on Saturday to set up a semifinals series at No. 2 Erath (23-11) that will start Friday.
Christian Wold hit a home run and pitched six scoreless innings in the first game, and drove in three runs in the second.
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