Lower seeds prevailing in 5A tourney was no upset

    When a No. 1 seed with a 33-3 record loses a game to a team it beat by 4-0 and 3-0 scores earlier in the season, and a No. 21 seed shocks the elite teams in Class 5A to win a state championship, it lends credence to the adage that has stood the test of time:
    There is no such thing as an upset in baseball.
    West Monroe, a No. 9 seed that was beaten soundly by Barbe, the defending Class 5A champion, twice during the regular season, ripped the vaunted Bucs from Lake Charles for seven runs in the first inning of a rain-interrupted quarterfinal round game en route to a 13-4 blowout victory.
    And in the five years since the Louisiana High School Athletic Association went to a seeding formula to determine its 32 playoff contenders in each sport, never had a No. 21 seed gone on to win a state championship.
    But Catholic High of Baton Rouge did just that by winning five playoff games against teams that were seeded higher. It was no upset.
    Forget that the Bears entered the playoffs with 13 losses. They peaked at the right time by eliminating No. 12 Lafayette, 5-2; No. 5 Jesuit, 8-3; No. 13 Sulphur, 4-2; No. 9 West Monroe, 3-1; and then beating No. 10 Zachary, 3-2, for their third baseball title in school history.
    The tournament, marred by an all-day rain that limited the first day to just two games, was supposed to be another showcase for Barbe’s dynasty baseball program. Instead, the powerful Bucs were out in one game, ousted by West Monroe, a team that had lost 12 games.
    And there was strong feeling in this area that Brother Martin had the perfect blend of offensive guns, a deep pitching staff and a sound enough defense to possibly win its third state title.
    Entering the playoffs with a 28-5 record, the No. 3 seed Crusaders had no trouble getting past No. 30 East Ascension, 9-1, in the bi-district round, but had to rally in the sixth inning to defeat No. 14 Denham Springs, 3-2, in the regionals.
    The Crusaders yielded a run in the top of the first to No. 6 Sam Houston, then, with their usual offensive brilliance, answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
    And when the Broncos tied the score at 4-4 in the top of the fourth inning, Martin again answered with two runs.
    But that was the last hurrah for the District 9-5A champion.
    Sam Houston was relentless as its slammed 14 base hits off three Crusader pitchers to score five runs in the last four innings to win, 8-6.
    This was no upset, either.  Sam Houston was one of six teams to qualify for the playoffs from 3-5A, the strongest district in the highest class. Their district included Barbe, Acadiana, Lafayette, Sulphur and Comeaux.
New look in 2014
    So now the 5A tournament moves to Sulphur’s McMurray Park three-field complex for the next two years. Its format will change dramatically.
    Because Tulane cannot guarantee the tournament weekend for Turchin Stadium, and neither the University of New Orleans nor the management of Zephyr Stadium has placed a bid for the 2014 tournament, Sulphur is the lone bidder.
    Sulphur officials have designs on hosting championship tournaments for at least three classes in the future.
    The thunderstorms that covered Louisiana last week prolonged state tournaments at Sulphur and New Orleans.
    The attendance at Turchin was poor, to say the least. The count was 2,700 for the four quarterfinal-round games that took two days to play; 1,295 for two semifinal-round games and 1,330 for the finals on  Mother’s Day at 2 p.m.
    Can you imagine three classes of tournaments being played at one complex washed out at the same time? That would be a disaster.
    And beginning in 2014, the LHSAA will implement a new playoff format.
    The bracket will continue to be a 32-team, single elimination for the bi-district round, then will become a best-of-three series in the regional and quarterfinal rounds, with the higher seed teams hosting the entire series.
    Then the semifinal and championship rounds will revert back to single elimination.
    Had that format been in place last week at Tulane, two interesting questions arise about the quarterfinal round:
    Would Barbe have been eliminated by West Monroe,  and could Catholic High still  have survived its No. 21 seeding? Interesting.
    Ron Brocato can be reached at rbrocato@clarionherald.org.