Richard proud of Blue Jay run

By Tom Dodge
tom.dodge@eunicetoday.com

SULPHUR – Six state baseball championship and now three state runners-up trophies will be proudly displayed at St. Edmund.
Even though the Blue Jays fell 12-0 to No. 1 Ouachita Christian in the Class-1A final last Saturday, St. Edmund head coach Scott Richard was happy with how his team battled to get to the title game.
“We were better than we played in the championship game,” Richard admitted. “But I told the team not to hang their heads, but to be proud that they are one of the two best Class 1-A teams in the state.
“We got beat by a really good Ouachita Christian team,” Richard said. “I am proud of the way they battled to get to the title game.”
Ouachita Christian has now won seven baseball championships including 1987, 1997, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
This is the third straight shutout win for the Eagles in a championship game.
Ouachita Christian cruised to a 11-0 win over St. Mary’s for the 2010 title.
The Eagles rolled to a 10-0 win over Central Catholic in 2012 championship game.
St. Edmund (20-10) finished the regular season with a five-game losing streak before winning four straight playoff games over No. 26 False River Academy (4-0), No. 10 Christian Life Academy (6-5), No. 2 Sacred Heart of Ville Platte (4-2) and an 8-1 win over No. 6 Central Catholic of Morgan City in the semifinals.
Ouachita’s Grant Shepherd hit two grand slams in the title game, which kept the Jays from keeping the game close.
“I never felt our guys quit,” Richard said. “We had come back from big deficits earlier in the season, we just could get it done this time.
“It was a good year for us and I am proud of what they did as they worked hard all season.
“There were a lot of teams that would love to be the second-best team in the state,” but they aren’t - we are.”
Richard said he was proud his seniors and their leadership through the ups and downs of the season.
Jacob Thibodeaux, Hans Redlich, Austin Sittig, Drew Brown, Aaron Sittig, Alex Hunt and Ross LaFleur finished their high school careers at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
“Our seniors did a great job leading us the whole season,” Richard said. “It is now up to our younger players to get us back to the state tournament again next year.”
With Richard on the team, the Blue Jays won the 1980 title with a 2-0 win over Central Catholic of Morgan City.
In 1982, St. Edmund finished second to St. Frederick in a 6-5 loss in the finals.
The Blue Jays captured the 1983 championship with a 6-0 win over St. Frederick.
As a coach, Richard helped lead the Blue Jays to the 1988 title over Ascension Catholic (9-1) and again in 1991 over Ascension Catholic (8-4). St. Edmund won their fifth state title in 1996 against St. John.
The Blue Jays’ sixth title came in 1998 with a victory over Central Catholic of Morgan City led by head coach Tad Richard.
St. Edmund finished state runners-up in 2001 in a 2-1 loss to Oak Grove under head coach Scott Rider.
This is the second year in a row that a District 5-1A team made it to the state championship game as Sacred Heart fell 5-1 to Cedar Creek last season.