Best are Broncos: Hebert, Mire get top honors on LSWA Class 5A all-state team
Sam Houston High School ended long state title droughts in baseball and softball and claimed half of the top honors on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 5A all-state teams.
Sophomore Kailyn Mire is the 5A softball Most Outstanding Player, while head coach Chad Hebert is the baseball Coach of the Year.
Mire had a remarkable first season as the Broncos' starting pitcher. She went 30-2 and led Sam Houston to its first state championship in a decade and sixth in program history.
She showed her durability by pitching all but two outs this season with 110 strikeouts and 66 walks in 180 innings with a 1.63 earned run average.
In the postseason, Mire was even better with a 0.78 ERA and led the Broncos to wins in three games decided by four or fewer runs. In the Non-select Division I state championship game, she pitched a three-hitter as the Broncos beat Dutchtown 3-2.
Mire hit her lone home run at the right time with a two-run shot in the seventh inning to tie the Broncos' semifinal game against postseason rival St. Amant. Sam Houston won 5-3 in eight innings.
After nine seasons and close calls, Hebert and the Broncos hoisted a state championship trophy for the first time since 2001. Sam Houston went 37-8 and became the lowest-seeded team to win the largest classification since Catholic-Baton Rouge won as the No. 21 seed in 2013.
The No. 11 Broncos beat defending state champion West Monroe in the regional round, 12-time state champ Barbe in the semifinals and No. 1 seed Live Oak in three games in the championship series. They won 10 of 11 postseason games.
Mire is joined by two teammates on the first team, sophomore catcher Layla Landry and senior third baseman and leadoff hitter Carolina Eidson.
Landry (14) and Eidson (11) were part of the Broncos' powerful lineup that hit a combined 57 home runs. Landry drove in 57 runs and batted .500, while Eidson hit .495 with 42 RBIs, 58 runs scored and 27 extra-base hits.
Also on the softball first team is Sulphur power-hitting, two-way player Pressy White. The senior hit 18 home runs, seven doubles and two triples while batting .520 with 47 RBIs. In the circle, she struck out 92 batters and had a 2.58 ERA.
Two area players — Sam Houston's Cole Flanagan and Barbe's Jairus Miller — made the first team.
Flanagan pitched a pair of two-hitters in the postseason and went 3-0, including a complete game to clinch a semifinal best-of-three series in two games at Barbe.
Flanagan went 7-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 531/3 innings. He batted .381 with seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 30 runs scored and 30 RBIs.
Miller nearly finished the season with a perfect record until a 1-0 loss to Sam Houston in the semifinals. Miller was 13-1 with nine shutouts and allowed one run in three playoff starts. He had 126 strikeouts and 24 walks in 86 innings and a 0.41 ERA.
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