Three district champions will vie for one title in ’14

    Brother Martin, Archbishop Shaw and Holy Cross have all won baseball championships in their respective districts.
    Next year these three deserving champs will vie for one common title when they once again unite in the Catholic League.
    Victories will be harder to come by when the three join Archbishop Rummel, Jesuit and St. Augustine in an all-Catholic school district for at least the next two years. But, as the history of the Catholic League has borne out, competition among the six has made each program better prepared for a run at the Class 5A championship.
    While Brother Martin had to battle both Jesuit and Rummel before claiming its District 9-5A title, Shaw and Holy Cross coasted in their mixed Class 4A districts.
    Brother Martin gained the No. 3 ranking in 5A by defeating 2012 runner-up Rummel and 2012 semifinalist Jesuit.
    The remainder of the district (9-5A) includes Grace King, Chalmette and West Jefferson, all of which have failed to win a single game against the three Catholic schools. Fortunately for the three, they will be placed in a common district with other Jefferson Parish schools next year.
    Behind the pitching of senior fireballer J.P. France and a solid defense, Shaw swept its seven District 9-4A games, and, in doing so, outscored its district rivals, 80-2.
    The Eagles (19-8) have beaten Jesuit twice and Rummel in non-district games, but have lost to Holy Cross and Brother Martin.
    France is one of the best pitchers in Louisiana preps.  He has a pair of two-hit shutout performances, one against Jesuit. He is unbeaten in six decisions, has struck out 87 batters and carries a 0.28 earned run average into the postseason after quieting the bats of 14-4 John Curtis, 3-0 (another two-hitter) on April 13.
    Holy Cross was just as dominant as Shaw in breezing to the District 10-4A title with an 8-0 record. With two games left, the Tigers (17-13 overall)  have outpointed the competition, 100-4.
    And hats off to St. Augustine, which is about to cap off its fine season with a second-place finish in District 10-4A. The Purple Knights’ only district defeats came against Holy Cross, and they are in position to gain a berth in the state playoffs as a No. 21-24 seed.
    Brother Martin entered the week seeded No. 3, Jesuit is at No. 7, St. Paul’s is at No. 8 and Rummel at No. 28.
    Shaw entered the week as the No. 11 seed in 4A, with Holy Cross at No. 13.
    St. Charles Catholic is seeded No. 13 in Class 3A, and De La Salle is on the bubble at No. 32.
    And Archbishop Hannan is the No. 16 seed in Class 1A and is also playoff eligible.
    Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected]