The ninth seeded Pope John Paul II Jaguars sent a message to all of the Class 2A baseball community last night by knocking off the visiting 24th seeded Rosepine Eagles in the bi-district round of the Louisiana State Baseball Playoffs, 9-0.

“I told the kids before the game to go out there and make a statement to show how we are capable of playing,” said Jag coach Mark Homburg. “From what I saw, I think they did just that.”

The Jags sent their big right-hander Sean Kennel to the mound and got a superb pitching performance as he threw a one-hit shutout. Kennel (5-4) had a perfect game going until the fourth inning. An error on a hot smash off of PJP’s third baseman Mike Atkinson’s glove gave the Eagles their first base runner of the game. In the sixth inning Rosepine got their first and only hit of the night when pinch-hitter Grant Keel poked one through the third base hole. The Eagles had only three batters reach base and two of those came on Jaguar errors.

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When asked to sum up his thoughts on the game the PJP winning pitcher Kennel was quick to acknowledge his fielders.

“Our defense played a great game out there. I just tried to throw strikes and let the defense do the rest. My two-seam fastball was working well for me tonight and I felt good,” Kennel said.

PJP got all the runs they would need in the first inning. Ross Macaluso got things started with a leadoff single. Atkinson, who had a pair of hits, sacrificed him to second and Breck Kline walked. Zack Pohto followed with an RBI single of his own and Vinny Calamari, who has two hits and drove in five, cleared the bases with a 2-run double to make it 3-0. An Eagle error by pitcher Randall Aycock allowed Calamari to score the fourth run of the inning.

Both Atkinson and Kline got RBI doubles in the second inning to extend the PJP lead to 6-0.

PJP rounded out the scoring in the fifth inning, picking up another three runs. The story of this inning was all about Calamari. After Kline walked and Pohto got on base via a fielder’s choice, Calamari stepped to the plate and drove an outside fastball over the right-field wall for a 3-run homer and a comfortable 9-0 lead.

Aycock took the loss for the Eagles while Kennel breezed to his one-hit, shutout masterpiece.

The PJP offense was clicking but so was the defense.

“Despite the three errors we made that was probably the best defense that we have played all year,” said Homburg. “If we continue to keep playing like that I will be very satisfied. Mike (Atkinson) did a great job at third for us and our overall defense was great.”

Eight of the nine Jag starters collected hits on the night.

Rosepine coach Jeff Smith had nothing but good things to say about the Jaguars. “They just outplayed us. They played some great defense, hit the ball well and got a great performance out of their pitcher. We had a good season that I’m proud of. Look for us to have a better one next year. We’ve got a young team that will only get better.”

The District 9-2A co-champion Jags move on to the regional round to take on the winner of the Oakdale and Many game.