Pope John Paul falls in regional round against Oakdale Monday

Pope John Paul II’s baseball team had its season end Monday in the regional round of the LHSAA state playoffs, 6-1, to Oakdale on the road.

PJP, the ninth seed and co-champs of District 9-2A, finished the season at 17-9-1 overall. Oakdale, the eighth seed, will travel to face top seed Sterlington.

The Warriors led 6-0 after six innings and PJP was still looking for its first hit.

In the final frame, Sean Kennel and Andre Damiens each reached on throwing errors and Chad Casey took advantage of the miscue by getting an RBI single to left.

Bobby Mayfield suffered the loss. He went four and a third innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Casey threw the final one and a third inning and gave up two runs on two hits with three walks and one walk.

PJP coach Mark Homburg said it was a good year and added that he was proud of his team for not giving up after a rough beginning.

“We had a successful season. I was pleased with the way we rebounded from an 0-6-1 start. They hung in there and never quit. We came up short against a really hot pitcher,” Homburg said.

The Jaguars have three senior players, including Chad Casey, Vinny Calamari and Mike Atkinson.