LCCP records first playoff win, Tors upset Covington
After a decade of existence, the Lake Charles College Prep baseball program made history last week with its first postseason win.
The 17th-ranked Trailblazers swept No. 16 Tara in a best-of-three series on the road in the bi-district round of the Select Division II playoffs. They run-ruled the Trojans 19-2 in four innings on Friday and 17-2 in three innings on Saturday. LCCP (15-18) had made the playoffs four other times in its history with the last coming in 2022. It almost upset No. 7 Berwick in 2021 before losing 5-3.
The Trailblazers will travel to Lafayette this week to take on No. 1 Teurlings Catholic in a best-of-three regional playoff series starting on Thursday.
Senior shortstop Christian Burgos had a productive weekend, going 5-for-7 with six RBIs as the Trailblazers reached double-digit hits in both games. He had a pair of doubles on Friday and a two-run home run Saturday.
Sophomore Dylan Vital pitched a no-hitter in LCCP's win Saturday with six strikeouts and three walks.
Road Warrior Tors
For a second consecutive season, the Sulphur Tors went on the road in the first round and went home winners.
The No. 20 Tors swept No. 13 Covington in a best-of-three Non-select Division I bi-district playoff series with a pair of dramatic wins.
Sulphur opened the series Friday with a 4-2, eight-inning win using small ball. Slade Shove-Knox put down a bunt and reached base on an error and moved into scoring position on Brodie Depriest's sacrifice bunt. Carter Wilson scored the go-ahead the go-ahead run on a bunt by Braydon Stacy and Tajhai Smith's single to right field brought home Shove-Knox.
Jackson Beddoe capped the Tors' big weekend with the hit of the series Saturday. He hit a walk-off two run home run to beat the Lions 7-5 and send the Tors to the regional round.
The Tors' bullpen played a big role in the sweep. Wilson pitched two scoreless relief innings to pick up the win on the mound Friday, and Grayson Seaford pitched four scoreless innings Saturday. Sulphur (18-18) will travel to No. 4 Haughton for a best-of-three series starting on Friday.
Near perfect
Jennings senior Jenna Morvant almost pitched a perfect game Thursday as she led No. 9 Jennings to a 9-0 win over No. 24 A.J. Ellender in the first round of the Non-select Division II softball playoffs.
Morvant pitched a no-hitter with nine strikeouts and missed a perfect game by one batter. She walked the third batter she faced but retired the next 18 in a row and closed the game with a strikeout.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
21 hours ago
- USA Today
WATCH: Ohio State players and coaches continue June Olympics with penalty kick competition
WATCH: Ohio State players and coaches continue June Olympics with penalty kick competition We are officially in the doldrums of college athletics unless you have a baseball team still in the thick of the Men's College World Series. We are definitely in a lull with college football, that vacuum of a space between spring and fall camp when the weather turns soupy and steamy, and time seems to drag on. To fill that void, the Ohio State football program is holding what it calls the "June Olympics," where the players compete in events against the coaches for bragging rights and who knows what else. I mean, what better way to follow up a College Football Playoff national championship? The latest competition involved non-American football, or soccer as us folks here in the United States call it. But not a full-fledged game, but penalty kicks. The players have been on a roll with these events lately, and they kept things going with yet another win to extend their lead to 3-1 in the June Olympics. The Buckeyes did this same thing last summer, but we're not sure how many events we'll see this summer. Right now, the players have it over the older, less athletic coaches. Watch the social media post where the players and coaches engage in a spirited battle with the goal right, smack dab in the middle of the practice field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. We'll keep an eye on this "friendly" competition as it continues on and bring you the scores and results of each event as we count down the days to fall camp. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
American Press
2 days ago
- American Press
All-Southwest La. Big Schools: Sam Houston sweeps top awards
S am Houston High School teams carved out paths to state championships and swept the top honors on the American Press All-Southwest Louisiana Big Schools teams. Cole Flanagan and Kailyn Mire were indispensable in their respective championship runs and are the MVPs. Baseball Tommy John surgery forced him to miss his junior season, but Flanagan flourished once he returned to the diamond. Pitching and playing center field, Flanagan led Sam Houston to its first state championship since 2001. Flanagan's command of multiple pitches helped the Louisiana-Lafayette signee go 7-2 with a 2.10 earned run average in 53 1/3 innings with 61 strikeouts and 16 walks. The marquee performance of his career came in the second game of a best-of-three semifinal series. He pitched a complete game two-hitter with five strikeouts and a walk to lead the Broncos to a 1-0 win over archrival Barbe and sweep the series. 'He has been a big leader as far as positivity goes,' Sam Houston head coach Chad Hebert said. 'He has been a big part of the lineup and showed a ton of composure throwing the way he did. He was able to limit the damage (in the postseason). 'At Barbe, he gave up two hits and no runs. Every time he had to make a pitch, he did and we made some plays around them.' Flanagan batted .381 with 30 runs, seven doubles, two triples, a pair of home runs and 30 RBIs. In the deciding third game of the Non-select Division I championship series, Flanagan went 3-for-4 and scored the tying run as the Broncos clinched the title with a 4-2 win. Softball While a sophomore, Mire showed poise all season and rarely left the circle, pitching all but two outs for the state champion Broncos. The right-hander tossed 180 innings with 110 strikeouts and 66 walks. She went 30-2 with a 1.63 ERA. She went 4-0 in the postseason and allowed three earned runs in 27 innings. '(Mire) has been phenomenal this entire season,' Domingue said. 'I think she gets overlooked a lot because she's not the strikeout pitcher. She's not throwing 65 miles an hour, but she has literally put this team on her shoulders and carried us. 'She changes speeds and forces weak contact. She might not strike you out every time, but she trusts the defense to make the plays.' Mire kept opponents baffled with a wide range of pitches and speeds. She pitched 10 shutouts and three no-hitters along with two one-hitters and six two-hitters. Mire showed her durability with 15 outings lasting seven or more innings. Not known for power hitting, Mire (.325 avg.) came up clutch in the semifinals when she hit a two-run home run, her first of the season, to send the game into extra innings. Coaches Sam Houston's Chad Hebert and Beth Domingue are the Big School Coaches of the Year. Domingue led Sam Houston to a 30-2 record, including a 28-game win streak to end the season, and the program's first state championship since 2015. The softball team owns six state championships, and Domingue has been a part of all of them as either a player (2000) or head coach (2011, '12, '13, '15, '25). Hebert had long sought to lead the Broncos to a state championship. In his nine seasons at the helm, the Broncos reached the state tournament seven times, losing in extra innings twice in the semifinals, plus a loss to Barbe in the finals in 2019. He guided the Broncos to a 37-8 record. As the No. 11 seed, they twice rallied to sweep defending state champion West Monroe on the road in the regional round and took out 12-time state champ Barbe in the semifinals in two pitchers' duels, 2-1 and 1-0. And they still had enough magic left over for the finals to beat No. 1 Live Oak in three games decided by two or fewer runs. Big Schools Baseball Pos. Player, School Cl. Statistics P Owen Galley, Sam Houston So. 8-2, 1.25 ERA, 51 Ks P Cole Flanagan, Sam Houston Sr. 7-2, 2.10 ERA, 61 Ks P Lawton Littleton, Barbe So. 10-2, 0.76 ERA, 111 Ks P Jairus Miller, Barbe Sr. 13-1, 0.41 ERA, 126 Ks C Hayden Lebleu, Iowa Sr. .341 avg., 6 HR, 40 RBIs INF Lucas Alexander, Iowa Sr. .390 avg., 5 HR, 29 RBIs INF Christian Wold, S. Beauregard Sr. .358 avg.,/6-1, 1.20 ERA INF Noah Fontenot, S. Beauregard Sr. .293 avg./9-2, 2.87 ERA INF Kash Martin, Westlake Sr. .381 avg., 2 HR, 23 RBIs OF Justin Lartigue, LC College Prep Sr. .394 avg., 2HR, 37 RBIs OF Tyler Dartez, Iowa Sr. 5-4, 44Ks, 1.91 ERA/.340 avg. OF Brody Anderson, Westlake So. .493 avg., 37 RBIs/ 6-2, 2.01 ERA UT Slade Shove-Knox, Sulphur Sr. 582/3 IP, 3-4, 44Ks, 29bb, 3.37 ERA UT Presley Courville, Barbe Sr. .492 avg., 3 doubles, 13 RBIs UT Bryce Cunningham, Leesville Sr. .375 avg., 21 RBIs/392/3 IP, 42 Ks UT Trace Moreaux, St. Louis Catholic Jr. 5-3, 2.18 ERA, 54 Ks UT Konnor Boudreaux, St. Louis Catholic Jr. .350 avg., 22 RBIs/261/3 IP, 2 Svs MVP — Cole Flanagan, Sam Houston COACH OF THE YEAR — Chad Hebert, Sam Houston Softball Pos. Player, School Cl. Statistics P Alya Stollsteimer, Iowa Sr. 19-9, 3.81 ERA P Kailyn Mire, Sam Houston So. 30-2, 1.63 ERA, 110 Ks P Mattie Fullington, St. Louis Catholic Fr. 8-1, 1.83 ERA, 139 Ks P Claire Mellard, Sulphur Sr. 7-7, 3.72 ERA, 91 Ks P Laila Roberson, DeRidder So. 12-8, 5.44 ERA, 142 Ks C Layla Landry, Sam Houston So. .500 avg., 14 HR, 57 RBIs INF Emma Venable, Jennings Sr. .522 avg., 8 HR, 34 RBIs INF Pressy White, Sulphur Sr. .520 avg.,18 HR, 47 RBIs/2.58 ERA, 92 Ks INF Carolina Eidson, Sam Houston Sr. .495 avg., 11 HR, 42 RBIs INF Elaina Newman, Westlake Jr. .580 avg., 42 RBIs, 54 runs OF Alivia Singletary, Iowa Jr. .426 avg., 5 HR, 30 RBIs OF Morgan Henry, Iowa Fr. .352 avg., 3 HR, 35 RBIs OF Camryn Jackson, S. Beauregard So. .365 avg., 6 HR, 32 RBIs UT Addi Daigle, S. Beauregard Fr. .506 avg., 5 HR, 33 RBIs UT Aubrey Portie, Sam Houston Jr. .494 avg., 14 HR, 49 RBIs UT Kylie Price, Jennings Sr. .433 avg., 32 RBIs, 34 runs UT Charlie Kyle, Sulphur So. .450 avg., 5 HR, 25 RBIs UT Ella Kay, Barbe So. .518 avg., 25 RBIs, 34 runs MVP — Kailyn Mire, Sam Houston COACH OF THE YEAR — Beth Domingue, Sam Houston
American Press
2 days ago
- American Press
All-Southwest La. Small Schools: Iguess, Fontenot named MVPs
K inder's Brianna Fontenot and Welsh's Dane Iguess closed out their high school softball and baseball careers with stellar seasons to lead their teams deep into the playoffs. They are the American Press All-Southwest Louisiana Small Schools MVPs. Softball Fontenot won her third All-Southwest MVP honor. She won her first as a freshman in 2022, and last season she was the Big Schools MVP when the Yellow Jackets were in Class 3A. 'From when the season started, till the end, she gave everything that she had even on her rough days,' Kinder head coach Sarah Chaney said. 'When some games were on the line, coaches, as well as her teammates, had trust in her to do whatever she needed to do.' Fontenot batted over .500 for a fourth time while striking out once in 87 plate appearances. The Purdue signee and prolific hitter had 24 extra-base hits, including seven home runs, and drove in 40 runs to push her career totals to 52 home runs and 204 RBIs. She led the Yellow Jackets to the quarterfinals for the second time in her career with 12 multi-hit games and 10 games with two or more RBI. In the circle, she was equally feared with a 15-1 record and a 2.33 earned run average in 102 1/3 innings. She struck out 119 batters and walked 17. She pitched two no-hitters, including one against Oakdale on March 19 with 12 strikeouts. She finished her high school career with 504 strikeouts and a 60-14 record in four seasons as a starter. 'Brianna has made such an impact on Kinder High softball since the beginning of her freshman year, coming in as a starter and learning and growing as a teammate, and also as a person and player,' Chaney said. 'I wish her the best at Purdue and can't wait to see what she accomplishes there.' Baseball Iguess headed up a strong senior class to lead the Greyhounds to the state tournament for the first time since 2019. The 6-foot-2 southpaw went 9-1 in 12 starts on the mound and pitched five complete games. In 72 2/3 innings, he struck out 93 batters with 18 walks and a 1.80 ERA. Opponents struggled against him, batting .197. 'He had a great year,' Welsh head coach Caleb Hayes said. 'I think it is going to go down as one of the best pitching years in school history. He is just a competitor.' Iguess hit .330 as the Greyhounds' leadoff batter with seven doubles, using speed to steal 20 of 21 bases and score 27 runs. At the top of the order, he didn't get many opportunities to drive in runs (8), but he came up big in the Non-select Division IV semifinals with a walk-off RBI hit in Welsh's 8-7 eight-inning win over DeQuincy. Iguess was a defensive asset with a .902 fielding percentage. In the postseason, Iguess went 2-0 with 25 strikeouts and seven walks in 18 innings and helped the Greyhounds get through the quarterfinals after losses in 2023 and '24. 'He actually started in a quarterfinal game as a sophomore and junior and both of those didn't go our way,' Hayes said. 'It was kind of fitting that we rolled with him in the quarters and we leaned on him in the semifinals, and we got to the state championship game.' Coaches In his sixth season as head coach, Hayes, a former Greyhound standout, took Welsh back to the final for the first time since 2018. Welsh won two of its first seven games but turned things around to earn the No. 2 seed in Non-select Division IV and finish 23-11. The Greyhound lost to the four-time defending state champion, Oak Grove, in the final. In her first season as head coach, Chaney helped her former high school break out of its regional round jinks and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2022. The Yellow Jackets lost in the regional round in 2023 and '24 as a top-four seed. Kinder started the season 12-1 and finished 17-6. They bowed out of the playoffs to Non-select Division III runner-up Jena in the quarterfinals. Small Schools Baseball Pos. Player, School Cl. Statistics P Carson Rainwater, DeQuincy Sr. 9-4, 1.39 ERA, 116 Ks P Gage Guidry, Vinton Jr. 6-2, 1.67 ERA, 108 Ks P Cohen Cormier, Welsh Sr. 5-5, 2.50 ERA, 40 Ks P Riddick Meaux, Kinder Jr. 5-1, 1.60 ERA, 30 Ks C Andrew Dowden, DeQuincy Sr. .486 avg., 3 HR, 50 RBIs INF Cameron Bonin, Lake Arthur Jr. .458 avg., 17 RBIs, 19 runs INF Rylan Young, Grand Lake Sr. .455 avg., 38 RBIs/8-0, 55 Ks, 1.50 ERA INF Connor Courmier, Vinton Sr. .350 avg., 13 RBIs, 12 runs INF Gabriel McKee, Rosepine Sr. .379 avg., 24 RBIs, 35 runs OF Dane Iguess, Welsh Sr. .330 avg./9-1, 93 Ks, 1.80 ERA OF Blaze Brister, Merryville Jr. .395 avg., 12 RBIs, 15 runs OF Turner Rodriguez, DeQuincy Jr. .400 avg., 35 RBIs / 7-2, 74 Ks UT Layne Bageux, Lacassine Jr. .371 avg., 3 HR, 29 RBIs UT Law Faulk, Grand Lake Fr. .484 avg., 25 RBIs/ 5-0, 1.10 ERA UT Braeden Strother, Oakdale Sr. 5-3, 2.07 ERA, 45 Ks/ .273 avg. UT Hunter Broussard, Reeves So. .362 avg., 20 RBIs, 31 runs UT Madden Spicer, Hackberry Fr. .278 avg., 21 RBIs/4-3, 60k MVP — Dane Iguess, Welsh COACH OF THE YEAR — Caleb Hayes, Welsh Softball Pos. Player, School Cl. Statistics P Ainslie Willis, Oakdale Jr. 10-5, 3.12 ERA, 97 Ks P Brianna Fontenot, Kinder Sr. 15-1, 2.33 ERA, 119 Ks P Marli Jones, Rosepine So. 13-6, 3.60 ERA, 142 Ks P Maddie Vinatieri, DeQuincy So. 14-11, 3.80 ERA, 172 Ks C Aubrey May, Kinder Jr. .419 avg., 12 doubles, 22 RBIs INF Alaina Bearb, Grand Lake Jr. .352 avg., 37 runs, 16 SB INF Analeigh Roberts, Rosepine Jr. .378 avg., 8 HR, 26 RBIs INF Aubrie Richard, Bell City Jr. .364 avg., 6 doubles, 14 RBIs INF Shay Lott, Merryville Sr. .477 avg., 37 SB, 18 RBIs OF Layla Gauthier, Lake Arthur Sr. .529 avg., 13 RBIs OF Reesie Jinks, Fairview Sr. .646 avg., 25 runs, 32 SB OF Onnie Remedies, DeQuincy Fr. .411 avg., 34 RBIs, 12 SB UT Madelyn Nolen, Starks Sr. 12-6, 113 Ks/ .570 avg., 38 RBIs UT Jolie Gary, Vinton Sr. .551 avg., 6 HR, 33 RBIs/ 982/3 IP, 116 Ks UT Addison Hollier, Lacassine So. .490 avg., 22 RBIs, 20 runs UT Jolie West, Oakdale Sr. .565 avg., .643 OBP, 27 RBIs UT Maggie Johnson, Welsh Sr. .407 avg., 16 RBIs, 25 runs MVP — Brianna Fontenot, Kinder COACH OF THE YEAR — Sarah Chaney, Kinder
