Metro area makes it mark
Five baseball, five softball players 1st-team all-state
Baton Rouge teams displayed their unique power of 10 by way of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A All-State baseball and softball teams.
Ten Metro area players — five softball players and five baseball players — made the 3A squads selected by a statewide panel of sportswriters.
North DeSoto High outfielder Matt Martin and Buckeye High pitcher Mikayla Brown garnered the Outstanding Player awards.
Martin, a senior, was selected as the Outstanding Player on the baseball squad after leading the Griffins to a 3A title by hitting .468 with seven home runs and 43 runs batted in. Brown was picked as the Outstanding Player for softball. The sophomore compiled a 25-2 record with an 0.84 earned run average. Brown also hit .364 with 24 RBIs.
Iowa’s Cason Robison and Sean Richard claimed the LSWA’s 3A Coach of the Year honors. Robison’s softball squad advanced to the semifinals, while Richard’s baseball team was the 3A runner-up.
Runner-up Parkview Baptist and semifinalist Brusly combined to place the five softball players on the LSWA squad. Quarterfinalists Livonia and PBS garnered the five spots on the baseball team.
Pitchers Brooklyn Guillot of Parkview and Carli Jo Leblanc of Brusly help lead the local softball contingent. Guillot was 21-5 with an 0.74 ERA and 274 strikeouts. She also hit .385 with four home runs and 38 RBIs. Leblanc was 18-5 with a 1.55 ERA and 122 strikeouts. She also hit .330.
Brusly third baseman Laneshja Taylor (.411, 26 RBIs) and outfielder Akiya Thymes (.491, 40 runs) also made the team, along with utility choice Lauren Yawn of PBS (.481, 29 RBIs).
Livonia’s Mason Klotz (6-1, 1.38 ERA, .389, 37 RBIs) made the baseball squad as a pitcher. Two Parkview players also known for their pitching prowess, Colin Rodgers and Russell Reynolds, made the team as position players.
Rodgers made the squad at first base. He hit .333 with 28 RBIs and was 5-1 on the mound with a 2.50 ERA. Reynolds made the squad as an outfielder after hitting .365 with 27 RBIs in addition to finishing 8-2 on the mound with a 1.38 ERA.
Shortstop Brennan Bozeman of PBS (.477, 28 RBIs, 40 runs) and utility pick Brandon Armand of Livonia (.416, seven home runs, 36 RBIs) complete the list of local selections. Also making the baseball team as a pitcher was Loranger’s Brennan Catalano (10-1, 2.45 ERA). Catalano also hit .405 with 21 RBIs.
Iowa’s Sam Buller (23-7, 11 strikeouts per game) is the other softball pitcher on the LSWA squad. North DeSoto’s Jared West (8-1, 109 strikeouts) and Iowa’s Gabe Roberts (8-1, 1.68 ERA) were the other baseball pitchers.
Buckeye’s Lacie Nugent (.548, 23 RBIs) was the softball catcher, while E.D. White’s Logan Barbera (.398, three home runs, 37 RBIs) was the baseball catcher.
Eunice’s Josh Patin (.511, 45 runs scored) and Notre Dame’s Connor Goss (.439, 29 RBIs) were the other baseball infielders.
Notre Dame’s Katherine Kirsch (.447), Kaplan’s Mallory Hebert (.444, 44 runs) and Buckeye’s Jessica Johnson (.419, 25 RBIs) completed the softball infield.
St. Charles’ Katie Duhe (.422) and Kaplan’s Katie LeDoux (.420, 21 RBIs) were also picked for the softball outfield. The baseball outfield also featured Rayville’s Nathan O’Briant (.423).
Other baseball utility selections were Iowa’s Philip LeBleu (9-4), St. Charles’ Chad McNeil (8-1), E.D. White’s Scott Szush (9-3) and Loyola’s Vaughn Shapen (.465, 24 RBIs).
E.D. White’s Kali Clement (.435, 30 RBIs), St. Charles’ Chelsea Loupe (21-6), Kaplan’s Brittany LeBeouf (18-5, 1.75 ERA) and Farmerville’s Sandy Ouchley (.679, seven home runs, 63 RBIs) were the other softball utility players.