Week 2 of the 2024 high school baseball season has come and gone, as we are now halfway through tournament play.  Last week, we featured St. Paul's and John Curtis for our Week 2 Game of the Week, and for the second consecutive week, we got free baseball, as the Patriots ended up beating the Wolves in extra-innings by a score of 3-2.  After reviewing this week's schedules of teams from across the state, we've decided on our Week 3 Game of the Week, which will feature Live Oak taking on Catholic BR, who start their three-game series on Thursday March 7, 2024.  The Eagles started off the year 1-3, but have won 6 out of their last 7 games to improve their overall record to 7-4.  The Bears entered the season as our #1 team in the state and they've held up to those expectations, as they have a perfect 9-0 record, and are now ranked #3 in the country.  Another potential storyline of Game 1 of this series is that fans may get to see two of the state's top arms face off in 2024 RHP William Schmidt and 2025 RHP Sawyer Pruitt.  Be sure to follow us, across all of our social media platforms, for our Week 3 Game of the Week between the Live Oak Eagles and the Catholic BR Bears!

 

Live Oak HS vs. Catholic BR HS

 

-Date: Thursday March 7, 2024-Saturday March 9, 2024 (Three-Game Series)

-Time: 5 PM (Game 1) | 5 PM (Game 2) | 12 PM (Game 3)

-Location: Catholic BR (Game 1) | Live Oak (Game 2) | Catholic BR (Game 3)

-Live Oak HS (2024 Record): 7-4

-Head Coach: Jesse Cassard

-Catholic BR HS (2024 Record): 9-0

-Head Coach: Brad Bass

 

-Key Players (Live Oak): 2024 Kenny Berard, 2024 Mike Stephens, 2025 Sawyer Pruitt (Ole Miss commit), 2025 Cooper Smith (Louisiana Tech commit), 2025 Brock Davis (Northwestern State commit), 2025 Jude Weller (Tulane commit),  2025 Trevor Hodges, 2025 Cal Cassard, 2025 Brayden Allen, 2025 Cameron Washington, 2026 Zant Gurney, 2027 Cullen Weller (Tulane commit), 2027 Dekohta Jones, 2027 Lane Billings, 2027 Porter Rutledge, 2027 OF Kingston Johnson

-Key Players (Catholic BR): 2024 RHP William Schmidt (LSU signee), 2024 3B/RHP Trip Dobson (Houston signee), 2024 OF Brooks Wright (UL-Lafayette signee), 2024 OF/LHP Wyatt Chenevert (Nicholls State signee), 2024 RHP Ryder Loup (Loyola-New Orleans commit), 2025 SS Jack Ruckert (LSU commit), 2025 C/UTIL Andrew Clapinski, 2025 OF Noah Lewis (UL-Lafayette commit),2025 C/INF Edward Henriquez, 2025 OF/RHP Davis Emonet, 2025 OF Chase Harris, 2025 RHP Bennett Smith, 2026 LHP Kenneth Russell, 2026 RHP/INF Mills Richardson, 2026 LHP Lucas Lawrence, 2026 INF Turner Goldsmith

GAME PREVIEW

Live Oak and Catholic BR will meet on Thursday March 7, 2024 for Game 1 of their three-game series, for our Week 3 Game of the Week.  Both of these teams have gotten their seasons off to different starts, as Live Oak currently owns an 7-4 overall record, while Catholic BR is currently 9-0.  The Eagles went 3-3 in Week 1 with three tough losses to John Curtis, Barbe, and Concordia Lutheran.  Live Oak did end Week 1 on a high note, as they upset nationally ranked Flowermound (TX).  They kept the momentum rolling in Week 2 by going 3-1 with a couple of wins over St. Thomas More and St. Thomas Aquinas again.  The Eagles are led on the mound by junior RHP Sawyer Pruitt.  The Ole Miss recruit is 2-0 on the season with wins over Flowermound (TX) and St. Thomas More.  Junior RHP Jude Weller has also been pretty good so far this season, as we saw him toss 7 1/3 IP of shutout baseball against Barbe in Week 1.  Offensively, the Eagles got off to a slower start, but have started to pick up steam as of late, behind the bats of juniors Cooper Smith (Louisiana Tech), Brock Davis (Northwestern State), and Cam Washington.  They've also gotten really good production out of a couple of freshman in Lane Billings and Dekohta Jones, who were both on our Junior Future Games team last summer.  Catholic BR has gotten off to a perfect 9-0 start that started with a three-game series sweep of West Monroe, followed by a perfect 4-0 weekend in Alabama last week, against some of the best teams in the country.  The Bears are led on the mound by the state's top arm and one of the best pitchers in the entire nation in senior RHP William Schmidt.  The LSU recruit has already been up to 98 mph this spring and will sit in the 93-96 mph range, but his separator is a devastating "12-6" breaking ball with elite spin in the 3,000-3,200 RPM range.  The arms don't stop there for the Bears, as seniors Ryder Loup (Loyola-New Orleans), Trip Dobson (Houston), and Wyatt Chenevert (Nicholls State) have been really good so far this season, as has junior Jake Tompkins and sophomore Mills Richardson.  As good as the Bears pitching staff has been, their offense has been equally as potent, as there hasn't been an easy out up and down their entire order.  Juniors Jack Ruckert (LSU) and Noah Lewis (UL-Lafayette) have been swinging the bat really well.  Dobson was our Week 1 Player of the Week and is a guy that has consistently performed over the course of his high school career.  Junior Andrew Clapinski has also swung the bat really well so far this season, and has played exceptionally well behind the plate.  All of those guys, in addition to Chenevert, Brooks Wright (UL-Lafayette), Edward and Orlando Henriquez, Davis Emonet, Chase Harris, and Andrew Hodges make this a vaunted Bears lineup.  Both of these teams are talented and both are well-coached, which should make for some interesting baseball starting on Thursday evening.  High school baseball fans can expect another exciting Game of the Week with a playoff-like atmosphere.  

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