Bourgeois leads Wildcats past Shaw

Thelezia Folse/Herald-Guide

Destrehan senior Brandt Bourgeois pitched a complete game against Shaw, striking out seven and allowing only four hits. Bourgeois also did some damage from the plate with his sixth-inning double that broke a 1-1 tie and scored two runs.

Riding a superb pitching performance by senior Brandt Bourgeois, the 20th-seeded Destrehan Wildcats upset No. 14 Archbishop Shaw 5-2 in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.

The Wildcats, who only had three hits in the game, took advantage of some wild pitches to take an early lead in the top of the first. Jace Weber was hit by a pitch in the inning, then stole second base. Weber advanced to third on a passed ball, and came home on a single by junior Ryan Burks.
Bourgeois kept the Shaw hitters off balance until the fifth inning, when the Eagles were able to tie up the game.

Shaw's Dylan Roudolfich laced a one-out single to left field before advancing to second on an error. J.P. France then knocked a single to center to plate Roudolfich and tie the game at 1-1.

But an inning later, the Wildcats exploded for four runs to put the game away.

Jarius Vinnett walked to start the sixth and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Weber. Zach Schexnaydre drew a walk to give the Wildcats two base runners, and a fielder's choice from Burks moved Vinnett to third.

That's when Bourgeois delivered a punishing double that plated both Vinnett and Burks and gave Destrehan a 3-1 lead.
A batter later, junior Brennan Quigley blasted a two-run shot to left to stretch the advantage to 5-1.

Shaw got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on a home run by Jonathan Coco, but Bourgeois shut down the Eagles after that to give his team the win.

Burks, Quigley and Bourgeois all finished 1-for-3 with an RBI. Bourgeois pitched a complete game, striking out seven and allowing only four hits in the victory.

The Wildcats will now host No. 4 Jesuit on Monday at 4 p.m. Jesuit is 25-5 on the season and won the District 10-5A championship after finishing with an 11-1 record in league play.