THIBODEAUX – The E.D. White Cardinals broke open a scoreless game with a five-run third inning, then put it to rest with a 10-run fourth inning to eliminate the Eunice High Bobcats from the Class 3A state playoffs in the regional round.

The No. 10 Bobcats, who finished the season with a 24-9 record, were shut out on two hits by Cardinals’ starter Scott Szush.

Eunice coach Scott Phillips said that the outcome was no indication of how his Bobcats (24-8) have played all season.

“We hadn’t played that bad in quite a while. We played good defense and our pitching has been good,” Phillips said. “Their pitcher was solid and he kept the ball down and we couldn’t get anything in the air. They also made all the plays and they are a good baseball team. They have a chance to make a deep run in the playoffs.”

The Cats managed just two infield singles – one in the first inning by Jake Sonnier, and the other in the fifth inning by Kourt Deshotel.

The only other batter to reach base was Hayden Pitre, who struck out on a ball in the dirt, which bounced over the fence to advance him to second base.

It was the farthest any Eunice batter reached in the five-inning, mercy-rule contest.

Eunice starting pitcher Brett Darbonne hurled two shutout innings against the Cardinals to open the game, but ran into trouble in the third.

Matt Daigle led off that inning with a single, and after an infield pop fly produced one out, an error in the outfield allowed Brett Duet to reach safely.

Logan Barbera’s single loaded the bases before Alex Becnel lined a single to center field. The Cats caught a bad break on the ball as it bounced off the hard ground and over the head of the center fielder to score all three runners.

A suicide squeeze bunt by Scottie Sanders brought home Becnel with the fourth run, and a fifth run scored on singles by Mike Waguespack and Michael Caire, along with an error before Darbonne recorded the third out.

Daigle started the fourth inning for the Cardinals by drawing a walk off Pitre, who relieved Darbonne to start the inning.

Before the inning ended, the Cardinals sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs.

Pitre would be touched for seven runs, and reliever Taylor Aguillard would allow three more.

The two Eunice relievers would combine to issue seven walks in the inning.

E.D. White coach Shane Trosclair said that his team has struggled to score runs throughout the season, so it was good to see his hitters stay patient and make contact.

“Hitting is contagious and it seems like everyone hit the ball. We also used the whole field and that opened up things for us,” Trosclair said. “We’ve been patient all year. When our guys struggled (during the season), I made them take strike one. We took strike one quite a few times (against Eunice) and that allowed us to get some hits.”

The No. 7 Cardinals (24-9) will move on to the quarterfinal round where they will travel to either St. Charles or Erath on Monday.

Houma Courier reporter Teddy Renois contributed to this story.