“I’m excited to be back home, “said Zachary coach Jesse Cassard. “It’s tough to go on the road for the playoffs. We have to play well no matter where we play, but it’s nice to not have to travel three to four hours and all that stuff.”
If Zachary manages to survive until the 5A finals, it may see another Baton Rouge team in Sulphur.
The Zachary and University High baseball teams won’t meet this postseason with the Broncos being in Class 5A and the Cubs playing in the 3A bracket.
That doesn’t mean the Burke household is safe from sibling rivalry.
Zachary junior pitcher Robert Burke and his younger brother, U-High freshman third baseman Jacob Burke, rarely miss a chance for trash talk — even if they aren’t playing against each other.
“Personally, I feel like Zachary would come out with the victory (if we ever played U-High),” Robert said.
“We hit the ball better than they do,” Jacob said. “They’ve been peaking at the right time and playing really well, but it would be a good game. They definitely wouldn’t get an easy win from us.”
Fortunately for their parents, Robert and the rest of the No. 10 Broncos host No. 26 Ruston this weekend for a best-of-three series in the second round of the playoffs, while Jacob and No. 12 U-High travel to No. 5 Erath for a similar series.