The area Class 5A high school baseball teams have been on a collision course for the nonselect Division I semifinals since the beginning of the season.

No. 2 Barbe (37-1), No. 3 Sulphur (34-4) and No. 4 Sam Houston (31-4) along with defending champ and top-ranked West Monroe (33-4) will play today at the state baseball tournament.

“I said before the season, the four top teams were the three teams in our area and West Monroe, and the fifth team would have been St. Amant because they beat us and made it to the finals,” Barbe head coach Glenn Cecchini said. “So I was correct. There is a lot of parity and a lot of great teams in this area.

“Our district is the toughest district. It is going to be great for the community and there are going to be tons of people and great players.”

Barbe and Sulphur will meet for the third time this season, while Sam Houston will get another crack at the Rebels, who knocked them out in the quarterfinals last season. Both games will start at 5 p.m.

“If it doesn’t make people realize Southwest Louisiana is a baseball town, nothing will,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Hebert said. “I feel like the four best teams are here. I feel like Barbe and Sulphur have the top arms in the state.”

A pair of LSU-bound pitchers face off for the second time this season in Barbe junior Landon Victorian and Sulphur senior Jake Brown. Both went the distance in the regular-season meeting, a Barbe 5-3 win on April 8.

“We are definitely throwing Jake Brown,” Sulphur head coach Sam Moore said. “Rumor has it they are throwing a kid named Landon Victorian.

“It is going to be another classic matchup: LSU vs. LSU. We are super stoked about being here and we want to finish what we started.

“I thought we played well in both games. We just have to cut down on the mistakes. We have to learn how to relax a little bit and not make the crucial mistakes and we will be fine. We are fired up and ready to go. We are going to do what it takes, and we are going to see what happens after seven innings of baseball.”

Three days later Barbe won the second meeting 8-3 after falling behind 3-0.

“I think it is going to be an absolute epic matchup,” Cecchini said. “They have their best pitcher throwing and we have ours.

“It is one and move on, or one and done. We are going to do everything we can to win this game. They are a formidable opponent. I feel good about it. It is going to be a battle. Both guys are battle tested. The last time we were down 3-0 and came back and won the game. We know we can come back. If we get ahead, we are going to keep scoring.”

West Monroe narrowly beat Sam Houston 5-4, 4-3 in the quarterfinals last season, scoring the go-ahead runs in either the sixth or seventh inning.

“We know who they are,” Hebert said of the Rebels. “Their lineup is loaded. They have good pitching. We are going to have to play our best game to win it.”

State baseball

Semifinals

Nonselect

Division I 

Tuesday

Select Div. V — No. 1 Avoyelles Charter 10, No. 4 Claiborne Christian 1

Nonselect Div. V — No. 5 Anacoco 4, No. 1 Choudrant 3

Nonselect Div. V — No. 3 Pitkin 5, No. 7 Weston 4

Select Div. V — No. 2 Family Community 7, No. 3 Grace Christian 1

Select Div. IV — No. 1 Ouachita Christian 7, No. 4 Opelousas Catholic 3

Select Div. IV — No. 2 Ascension Catholic 4, No. 3 Glenbrook 1

Wednesday 

Nonselect Div. IV — No. 1 Oak Grove 5, No. 12 Mangham 4, 8 inns.

Nonselect Div. III — No. 5 Berwick 4, No. 1 Kinder 1

Nonselect Div. III — No. 3 Doyle 3, No. 2 South Beauregard 1

Select Div. II — No. 5 Vandebilt Catholic 7, No. 1 St. Louis Catholic 3

Select Div. II — No. 2 E.D. White 2, No. 3 St. Thomas More 1, 8 inns.

Nonselect Div. IV — No. 3 DeQuincy 10, No. 2 Logansport 0, 6 inns.

Thursday 

11 a.m. — Nonselect Div. II — No. 4 Eunice vs. No. 8 Lakeshore, Field 40

11 a.m. — Nonselect Div. II — No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 3 Assumption/No. 6 North DeSoto, Field 41

2 p.m. — Select Div. III — No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Holy Savior Menard, Field 37

2 p.m. — Select Div. I — No. 1 Catholic-BR vs. No. 13 Archbishop Rummel, Field 40

2 p.m. — Select Div. I — No. 2 Jesuit vs. No. 6 Pineville, Field 41

5 p.m. — Select Div. III — No. 1 St. Charles vs. No. 4 Dunham, Field 37

5 p.m. — Nonselect Div. I — No. 1 West Monroe vs. No. 4 Sam Houston, Field 40

5 p.m. — Nonselect Div. I — No. 2 Barbe vs. No. 3 Sulphur, Field 41

Finals 

Friday

11 a.m. — Select Div. V, No. 1 Avoyelles Public Charter vs. No. 2 Family Community, Field 40

11 a.m. — Nonselect Div. V, No. 3 Pitkin vs. No. 5 Anacoco, Field 41

2 p.m. — Select Div. IV, No. 1 Ouachita Christian vs. No. 2 Ascension Catholic, Field 40

2 p.m. — NS Div. IV, No. 1 Oak Grove vs. No. 2 Logansport/No. 3 DeQuincy winner, Field 41

5 p.m. — Select Div. III — Field 40

5 p.m. — Nonselect Div. III, No. 3 Doyle vs. No. 5 Berwick, Field 41

Saturday 

2 p.m. — Select Div. II, Field 40

2 p.m. — Nonselect Div. II, Field 41

5 p.m. — Select Div. I, Field 40

5 p.m. — Nonselect Div. I, Field 41