Four of the seven winners at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association State Softball Tournament in Sulphur captured their second consecutive state championships.
St. Thomas More (Lafayette) did so in Class 5A, with Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport) pulling it off in Class 2A, Ouachita Christian (Monroe) in Class 1A and Claiborne Christian (West Monroe) in Class C.
Elsewhere, Vandebilt Catholic (Houma) took home the Class 4A title, Notre Dame (Crowley) won a slugfest for the Class 3A title and Choudrant won its first Class B crown. St. Thomas More (Lafayette) scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to claim its Class 5A championship with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Hahnville.
Megan McCollum singled home Morgan Tauzin, who had reached on an error. McCollum had scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth when she raced home from first on an error. McCollum finished 3 for 3.
Vandebilt Catholic made the most of its three hits in beating Sam Houston (Lake Charles), 3-2, for the Class 4A title. Two of the hits chased home runs, with Sarah Ourso singling home Chelsea Allen in the bottom of the third for what proved to be the game-wining run for Vandebilt Catholic.
Winning pitcher Saidee Lemaire struck out and scattered five hits, with Brooke Rozas collecting two of them for Sam Houston.
Notre Dame also scored in the bottom of the seventh to outlast Parkview Baptist (Baton Rouge) for the Class 3A crown, 12-11. Ashley Boulet singled home Heidi Bellard with the deciding run. That came after Parkview Baptist had thrown out two runners in the inning, including one at the plate. Notre Dame trailed four times in the game, including an 11-7 deficit to begin the bottom of the sixth.
Evangel Christian left little to doubt in Class 2A, as it scored three times both in the third and fourth innings to pull away from St. Charles Catholic (LaPlace), 8-0. Olivia Guin paced the winners with two home runs and four RBI. Lindsey Neyland scored twice while going 4 for 4.
Not only was Grace Thaxton the winning pitcher in Ouachita Christian’s 8-2 victory over Hanson Memorial for the Class 1A crown, but she also went 3 for 4 with two doubles. Thaxton struck out six and held Hanson Memorial (Franklin) to four hits, including two from Emily Sonnier.
Choudrant overcame a 4-0 deficit to beat Avoyelles Charter School (Mansura) in Class B, 5-4. Emily Allen went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI for Choudrant, which scored five runs in the top of the sixth.
Claiborne scored twice in the bottom of the third and hung on to beat Hackberry in Class C. Winning pitcher Kara Anderson struck out 17 in pitching a four-hitter.
Gymnastics: St. Joseph’s Academy, Baton Rouge High win again
Despite having only three seniors on its 20-player roster, St. Joseph’s Academy (Baton Rouge) claimed its fourth consecutive Division III, Level 4 girls state title. Competing on its home floor, the Baton Rouge High boys won their fourth championship in a row, as well.
The Catholic High of New Iberia girls won the Division II, Level 5 crown, and Baton Rouge High finished first in Division I, Level 8.
St. Joseph’s senior Ellyn Marks won the Level 4 all-around title with a score of 37.500. Teammate Holly Smith was third (37.200). Madelinn Fink of Runnels (Baton Rouge) won the Level 5 all-around title with 37.900 points.
In winning for the fourth year in a row, St. Joseph’s scored 223.90 to outdistance runner-up Catholic of New Iberia (219.60) and Caddo Magnet (215.00).
The Baton Rouge boys overwhelmed runner-up Caddo Magnet, 913.3-801.6. Baton Rouge junior Chris Chu won the Level I all-around crown over teammate Nick Ronci, 64.1-63.9.
Baseball: Brother Martin bounces back
After failing to win the New Orleans-area Catholic League title on the last day of the regular season, Brother Martin (New Orleans) edged Archbishop Rummel (Metairie), 1-0; in a one-game playoff for the title.
Brother Martin center fielder Sean McMullen struck the deciding blow with a home run off the scoreboard in right field in the top of the seventh inning. The victory atoned for a 4-1 loss to Archbishop Rummel that forced the playoff game. Brother Martin right-handers Raymond Winter and Logan Riddel combined on a three-hit, 10-strikeout shutout, as Brother Marton also won the District 10-5A championship.
Winter struck out seven and allowed three this through six innings before giving way to Riddell. Riddel struck out the side in the seventh in addition to having issued a one-out walk.
Port Barre registers huge upset
The state playoffs got off to a rousing start when 30th-seeded Port Barre stunned third-seeded Calvary Christian Academy (Shreveport) in a Class 2A first-round game, 4-3. Port Barre 6-foot-4 first baseman John Ladd leaped in the air to grab a line drive and then stepped on first to complete a game-ending double play.
That made a complete-game winner of senior Caleb Roberie, who persevered despite surrendering nine hits and walking four in a gutsy performance.
Albany treading unfamiliar territory
It’s been a season of firsts for Albany, which finished 11-1 to win its first District 9-3A title in the 26-year history of the program. What’s more, after never having had a player sign a Division I scholarship, the Hornets had two when shortstop Gabe Woods signed with Ole Miss and pitcher Ryan Milton accepted a scholarship from Southeastern Louisiana.
Albany even made it past the first round of the playoffs with a 12-2 victory over North Vermillion. The Hornets were scheduled to travel to second-seeded Notre Dame of Crowley in search of their first second-round win.
