Central shook off miscues and missed opportunities Monday to close the regular-season with a bounce-back road win at Teurlings Catholic.
The Wildcats (24-9) upended the two-time defending champion Rebels, 5-2, as senior pitcher Evan Dauzat buckled down for six solid innings and two-RBI outfield hits by Brayson Hartzog and Reece Tillman highlighted a five-run third inning.
“It starts with them just being mature. They rode home with their parents Saturday so they could get back faster — they didn’t have to go 55 miles an hour on the interstate on the way back,” smiled Central assistant coach Hunter Edgens, filling in for coach Sham Gabehart. “Coming out here, like you said, just getting on the bus and competing. They love to compete. They compete every day in practice. And I think that’s what makes this group so special.”
Gabehart was sidelined Monday after being ejected from the first game of a doubleheader at Calvary Baptist and coaching the second game before he had completed the requisite sportsmanship course before returning.
But even falling behind 1-0 on an unearned Teurlings Catholic run and failing to capitalize on a back-to-back innings with two runners on with no outs, the Wildcats shook off moments that could have snowballed away from them and instead took control of the contest.
The Rebels (21-12-1) reached safely on an error to start the game, then eventually scored on the first of back-to-back two-out singles as senior third baseman Brennan Storms, an LSU-Alexandria commit, drilled a single to left-center to bring home speedy junior center fielder Kaden Chavis, an LSU-Eunice commit.
But that was nearly all Central would allow.
“(Dauzat) had a sinker, he kept the ball down in the zone and we didn’t make adjustments,” Teurlings Catholic coach Brooks Badeaux said.”Credit to him. Like you said, he settled in, he kept the ball down and we never made an adjustment. We continued to just let the sinker get us and pop balls up, and we didn’t have very many quality at-bats.”
Dauzat induced a bases-loaded groundout to end the threat with three Rebels stranded and then allowed just one hit total during the next five innings and didn’t face more than four batters in any frame.
The righty finished with an unearned run allowed on three hits and four walks while striking out two. He didn’t throw consecutive balls to any of the final 11 batters he faced and to just two of his last 16.
“Our coach talks about if a defender makes an error, as a pitcher just let ’em know you’ve got their back, and we had to get past that,” Dauzat said. “The most important thing was getting ahead in the count. I was getting behind batters early, but later I could just put my fastball where I wanted.”
Said Edgens: “I think he was composed even when he wasn’t getting calls and they got a couple hits early. Just the resiliency piece of it — you know, if you would’ve known that kid two years ago, to know him now is a completely different kid, especially on the mound. And we kicked the ball around a little bit and had a couple errors, but it didn’t change him on the mound. He got right back up there and kept filling it up.”
Central senior righty Evan Dauzat held Teurlings Catholic in check for six innings Monday, April 13, 2026, in a 5-2 win. (Photo: Jerit Roser, Louisiana vs. All Y’all)
The Rebels meanwhile walked the leadoff batter each of the first three innings and then again in the fifth. And, in the third, the Wildcats were finally able to take advantage.
With the first two batters on base to start the game, Hartzog struck out for the first of three straight outs. But the senior left fielder drilled the same opportunity in the third int left to bring home sophomore second baseman Aaron Keller and junior shortstop Cooper Austin.
“In the early innings, we just didn’t execute bunts,” Hartzog said. “I had a bunt, didn’t execute it and then I struck out. But in the third inning, we just turned it on. They were throwing 80% fastballs. We just sat fastball and turned on ’em and just got the bat out there and did what we needed to do… I knew it was a big spot to get us started in the game. Again, I was sitting fastball. I got two strikes on me and I knew they were heavy fastball, so he gave me fastball middle-in, and I turned on it.”
Teurlings Catholic was able to retire the next two batters, but Hartzog advanced on a groundout by junior right fielder Lane Billings and scored on a wild pitch.
And the bottom of the Wildcats’ lineup stepped up to double the lead as senior third baseman Houston Miley and junior catcher Draven Payne reached on a walk and a single to center and scored on a two-RBI single by Tillman blooped in front of the left fielder.
“We can’t defend a walk,” Badeaux said. “We got seven innings, and we walked the leadoff guy in (four) of ’em. You can’t defend that. You get a walk, a guy gets a good at-bat, the next thing you know you have a blooper and boom. So, we definitely didn’t play well today.”
Southeastern Louisiana-committed junior righty Lincoln Guillory, the Rebels’ third pitcher of the game, took over to start the fourth inning and helped keep his team within striking distance with just one hit allowed and three strikeouts in four scoreless innings.
But the Teurlings Catholic couldn’t manage much more at the plate until another unearned run in the bottom of the seventh as Chavis reached on a bunt single and advanced on an error.
Central committed a pair of errors in the final frame to bring their total to four in the game. And while that third miscue contributed to the late Rebels run, the Wildcats’ defense also turned a double-play from Keller to Austin to senior first baseman Brady Wiles to largely deflate the rally.
And senior righty Tripp Artieta struck out the final batter to close the door entirely.
Central rebounded for an early deficit and missed opportunities Monday, April 13, 2026, for a 5-2 road win at Teurlings Catholic. (Photo: Jerit Roser, Louisiana vs. All Y’all)
“I think we’re in a great spot,” Edgens said as Central heads into the postseason. “Coach Sham does a great job day in, day out, keeping these guys motivated, keeping them on their toes. They’re a resilient group, a mature group, and I think no matter who’s coming our way or wherever we’re going these guys are gonna prepare for it, and they’re gonna be ready to go and hopefully have a great weekend.”
The Wildcats are listed at No. 11 in the latest Division-I Non-Select power ratings, which would set them up for a first-round home series this weekend against the No. 22 seed with the winning then visiting No. 6.
Nearby St. Amant (18-16) and Benton (27-5) occupy those spots, respectively, in the LHSAA’s latest report.
Teurlings Catholic is meanwhile slotted as the No. 3 seed in Division-II Select and will enjoy an opening-round bye for the fourth straight year — since the shift to the current bracket format — and the potential for home-field advantage through at least the quarterfinals for the fifth straight year.
The winner of No. 14 Leesville (9-15) and No. 19 Madison Prep (9-15-1) would be the Rebels’ second-round opponent, according to the LHSAA’s latest power-ratings report.
“The good news is we have not played our best baseball at all this season — that’s the good thing,” Badeaux said. “The negative thing is we haven’t played our best baseball at all this season. So will it come out playoff time? We hope so. But that’s on me as a coach. I haven’t gotten us prepared enough up to this point. I feel like we’ve been fairly underwhelming and we’ve underachieved to this point, and that’s all on me. The blame falls on me. So we’ve got to buckle in. We have a long week of preparation. I’m assuming we’re gonna have a bye, and then we’ve got to get ready to go for whatever they throw at us.”