By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
It’s been a history-making spring for the Natchitoches Central baseball team, which takes another unprecedented step this evening by hosting its first playoff game at Chad Hargis Field.
The Chiefs (24-9) will host a three-game first-round LHSAA playoff series against District 1-5A rival Benton (19-15). Game One is this evening at 6. The second game is Saturday at 1, and if there’s a need for a decisive third game, it will follow at 3:30. Admission is $10 per day with tickets available at the gofan.co website.
NCHS and Benton split their two regular-season games.
“We beat them in the first game, which was interrupted by rain. We shut them out 5-0, but they beat us pretty handily in game two up there,” said NCHS head coach Regan Kaufman. “I think that’s a good thing for our guys, knowing we can beat them, but that they can beat us. I think we have a good chance if we play well.”
The Chiefs have been ranked as high as No. 3 in the LHSAA power ratings, but enter the playoffs at 13th, compared to the No. 20 rating for the visiting Tigers. The winning team will advance to face No. 4 Sam Houston next weekend.
The 24 wins recorded are easily the best in NCHS history. What’s elevated this squad above all the others in school history?
“We’re a team,” said Kaufman, a former standout at St. Mary’s and Northwestern. “For the first time since I’ve been here, it’s a group of guys who really love being around each other day after day. They’ve bought into what we teach, never ask why, they’re there for each other and they go do (it), never hold anything back, and give the game everything it requires, the heart and the effort. They bring it every day, and that’s something we’ve missed in previous years.
“Two years ago we lost 13 one-run games. We were close but just not there yet. We’ve flipped that this year, won tight games, and we haven’t given away games that we were supposed to win,” he said.
The Chiefs laid an egg Monday in their regular-season finale, getting drubbed 12-0 by Captain Shreve after dropping a one-run decision to the Gators a couple of weeks earlier on the road. Kaufman is not concerned about Monday’s disappointment weighing on his players.
“I played college ball at Northwestern, and we stubbed our toes at that level more times than I can count, and we had a good program. That’s just baseball. You treat each day as a new one, leave the past in the past, stay even keel, attack the next day,” he said. “We didn’t play well the other night, but we have a new opportunity, to do something that hasn’t been done here, and we’ll use that good energy going against Benton.”
This is the first year three-game series have been used in LHSAA baseball playoffs, in the Division I, II and III brackets. Divisions IV and V retained the single-game elimination formats used previously.
“I love it. I think three-game sets are nice,” said Kaufman. “The better team will win, whoever can get good starts from their arms, stay out of the bullpen the longest, do the little things right, not make errors and supply some early runs.”
“The big thing is winning that first one. I’ve seen the stat that says over 70 percent of the time, the team that wins the opener wins the series,” said Kaufman.
Adam Guillet is the Thursday night starter on the mound for the Chiefs. Ross Lindsey will get the second-game start on Saturday with the if-necessary game starter either Hunter Goodman or star senior infielder Alex Dupuy.
Dupuy is part of an eight-man senior class that has led NCHS to such a remarkable season.
“This is my second senior class to watch go through all four years. I’ve watched them grow and buy into the belief that we can do what we’ve done,” said Kaufman. “I help make decisions, but I don’t play the game. They’ve taken that and run with it, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
A 12-0 rout of North DeSoto was a signature win earlier this season.
“The night I first saw us step forward to a new level was beating what is always a very good North DeSoto team, and we dominated them,” said Kaufman. “The big improvement has shown in district. We’re 6-8 in a very good district, but we’ve been very competitive. We are now a baseball program that people around the state know and respect.”
The Chiefs hope to earn some more respect this week.
PHOTO – Courtesy NCHS