BIG GAME—St. Thomas Aquinas’ Logan Shaver (4) and the Falcons will look to get a share of the District 9-2A title this afternoon when they host Pope John Paul at 4 p.m.

There might be an unwritten rule somewhere that states St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope John Paul must battle it out in the last game of the regular season to determine the district champion.

This year is no exception as the Falcons (21-7, 10-1) entertain the Jaguars (15-5, 11-0) today with the District 9-2A title on the line.

"It seems that way. Been that way for a while," Falcons head coach John Legoria said.

PJP already clinched a share of the district title and pinned the only blemish on STA's district ledger, a 3-2 rain-delayed decision earlier this month.

"We've got to hit a little better and we've got to be smarter on the bases," Legoria said. "We cost ourselves a couple runs on the bases the last time, and when you give up outs on the basepaths, it costs you in a game like this."

An STA win would give the Falcons a share of the league title, but Legoria said playoff seeding is taking precedence over district bragging rights.

"Bottom line, it's huge, but with the way the seedings are this year, I don't really know," Legoria said. "We have a good overall record no matter what happens.

"We're going for our third-straight title and that would be big. But how big? Who knows? It could mean a couple of seeds. That's the main thing."

Meanwhile, Ponchatoula is fighting for its playoff life in District 7-5A. The Greenies (15-11, 5-6) travel to Covington to face St. Paul's (14-11, 5-6). Ponchatoula and St. Paul's, along with Mandeville (12-9, 5-6) and Fontainebleau (16-8, 5-6), are locked in a four-team tie for fourth place. The quartet is one game behind Covington (16-10, 6-5), the third-place team.

Green Wave head coach Mark Gosnell said Torin Lucas will get the start against St. Paul's, and will be ready for two of Ponchatoula's final three games.

"I really think if we get to 8-5 - and we've got to win three in a row to get to 8-6 - but looking at the the other districts around the state, if we get to 8-6 I think we'll get in," Gosnell said. "We just have to catch some breaks."

Ponchatoula could get some help in the standings from Hammond as the Tors (9-16, 1-10) travel to take on Mandeville. The Tors picked up their first league win Tuesday over Covington, and head coach Steve Labbe said he is looking for his team to assume the spoiler role.

"The kids work hard and what we're going to try to do is spoil it up again," Labbe said.

In District 10-3A, Loranger (21-10, 9-0) will go for a perfect district record on the road against Independence (2-19, 1-8). Wolves head coach Jason Helmstetter said sweeping 10-3A became a rallying cry after his team started 5-0, but no one is going to lay down and allow them to finish perfect.

"We realized we had a chance, and when Amite came in here and we beat Amite, we realized we really have a chance," Helmstetter said.

Other area games include Pine at Springfield in 9-2A, Bogalusa at Albany and Amite at Sumner in 10-3A, Maurepas at Lutheran in 9-B and Houma Christian at Holden in non-district action.

@Agate:Slidell 7, Ponchatoula 5

SLIDELL - Despite recording only four hits, Ponchatoula chased Tiger starter Shane Riedie with three runs in the fifth inning to knot the game at 5-all.

But the Greenies failed to get anything going against reliever Sean Nelson, and they left five runners in scoring position over the last three innings for their fourth straight district loss by two runs or less.

Ponchy got on the board first in the top of the second when Dylan Hills reached on a shortstop error, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Regis Stephens, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch on ball four to Elisha Settoon.

Slidell answered in the last of the second with three runs. Nelson reached on a fielder's choice before Randall Meyer walked and Blake Forbis delivered a run-scoring single, which also scored Meyer when the ball was booted in the outfield. Forbis later scored on a single by Shad de St. Germaine to make the score 3-1.

The Green Wave cut the lead to 3-2 when Torin Lucas was hit by a pitch and pinch-runner Matt Stock scored on a two-out double by Seth Bratton.

The Tigers went up 5-2 in the fourth on a walk to Meyer and Forbis's two-run blast to right field.

But Ponchatoula rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth to tie the score at 5-5. Lucas then rapped back-to-back singles to cut the lead to 5-4 before Gaudin scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

With runners on second and third, the Greenies failed to produce against reliever Nelson, and Slidell regained the lead in the last of the fifth when Riedie reached second on an infield error and later scored on Meyer's RBI single.

The Tigers went up 7-5 in the sixth on a pair of walks, a sacrifice fly, a wild pitch and a balk.

The Greenies left men stranded on first and third in the sixth, and they left the bases loaded in the seventh in going down to defeat.

Gaudin had a pair of hits to lead Ponchy at the plate. Nelson, Bratton and Lucas had one hit apiece.

Stephens, who started on the mound for Ponchy, went five innings, allowing four earned runs on only five hits while fanning five, walking three and hitting two batters. Reliever Rudy Townsend threw one inning, allowing one run on no hits while walking two and striking out one.