High school football is just around the corner, and teams are starting to return to the football field for practice, which means we have reached the final week of our 7-In-Seven Countdown. This week we are counting down the top-seven Class of 2023 Prospects from Southwest Louisiana.
We are just weeks away from KPLC’s coverage of Two-A-Days and to get ready we continue our 7-in-Seven countdown. Countdowns will include topics from McNeese to high school football. A new countdown each week, beginning every Monday. This week, we continue the countdown with the top-seven teams heading into the 2022 season.
Spooner took off with Javelin throwing in seventh grade and since then the Lady K has won two class 3A state titles and is coming off a first-place finish at the Nike Outdoor Nationals championship where she threw a personal best 161 feet and 11 inches and achieved all-American status.
Since that time Leonards has won more than 30 buckles, but his latest big win came at the 2022 Louisiana High school rodeo championship where he brought home a championship in steer wrestling.
Perfecting the little things is something Parry Lalande and Matt Dufresne emphasize to the young players as they learn new techniques to gain a leg up on the competition.
Guidry is the third straight Gatorade Louisiana Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Barbe High School and the sixth overall. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Guidry as Louisiana’s best high school baseball player.
The LHSAA executive committee selected hosts for the 2023-24 LHSAA championship events at its annual summer meeting Wednesday. Southwest Louisiana won the bid to host baseball, softball, swimming and boys’ basketball non-select state championships for the next two years.
He finished the season with a .461 batting average totaling 43 RBIs and eight home runs. As a result, he earned Vernon parish defensive player of the year and likely back-to-back all-state honors.
Jayla Mason isn’t one to let her mouth do the talking, rather, Mason makes her statements on the track. Her voice was loud and proud at the LHSAA track and field state tournament earlier this month, as she took home three gold medals— the most in Southwest Louisiana.
The Grand Lake Hornets have been so close to a state championship. Despite the Hornets making their third title game appearance since 2017, Grand Lake is still in search of its first-ever title. No. 3 Oak Grove edged the top-seeded Hornets, 2-1 in the eighth inning of the Class 1A Championship Friday at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
The Ole Miss signee and the Lady Saints have done nothing but win since coach Johnny’s arrival to the program. Freeman won her third discus state title and placed second in Javelin. She credits her success to the work she’s put in.
The Rosepine Eagles capped off the best season in program history with back-to-back Class 2A State Titles on Friday. No. 1 Rosepine blanked 11th-seeded Doyle in the championship game re-match, 11-0 at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
Lake Charles College Prep’s Terence Cahee is headed to Monroe to further his coaching career. The Westlake native is set to become the next head football coach at Wossman High School.
No. 4 Sulphur jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the eight-seed, St. Amant, eventually answered with an eight-run sixth inning to rally past Sulphur 10-7 Thursday at McMurry Park in Sulphur.
The Iota Bulldogs had little answer for Lutcher pitcher Marshall Louque on Thursday. The former Little League World Series Champion blanked the opposing Bulldogs over five innings to help his third-seeded Bulldogs upset No. 2 Iota, 8-1 at McMurry Park.
The re-match of the 2021 Division II semifinal lived up to the billing as three-seed Vandebilt Catholic plated two runs in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and upset No. 2 St. Louis, 3-1 at Joe Miller Ballpark Wednesday night.
The Rosepine Eagles’ title defense season can’t be much more dominant than what they’ve done this year. The top-seeded Eagles continued their run through the Class 2A playoffs Wednesday by blanking fifth-seeded Many, 14-0 in six innings at McMurry Park in Sulphur. Rosepine’s win streak extends to 29 games as the team now has a school-record 33 win-season.
The Grand Lake Hornets are headed back to the LHSAA Class 1A Baseball Championship for the third time in five years and for the second straight season.
The LHSAA baseball state Tournament is set to begin Wednesday in Sulphur at McMurry Park as four teams from Southwest Louisiana are among the 28 total teams from the seven non-select classes that will play for the right for a state championship Friday and Saturday. The select schools, meanwhile, will play their semifinals and championships at separate sites this season on the same days. The Lake Area has one select school in the hunt for a title.
Southwest Louisiana racked up over the weekend at the 2022 LHSAA Outdoor Track & Field State Meet in Baton Rouge. The area brought home 35 individual state championships from 19 different schools and one team title.
The St. Louis Catholic boy’s tennis team was on a mission this season— to repeat as state champions. It was the same goal individually for Kai Reinauer after he won the Division III title last season as a sophomore.
KPLC 7 Sports Director Brady Renard sat down with Prep Baseball Report’s Alex Armand to preview the local teams with the best chance of reaching the state tournament next week.
The Barbe girls’ golf team, the defending Division I state champs, captured another state title with a two-day total of 329. The Lady Bucs led the field both days en route to the 13-stroke win. Isabella Bradley (161), Isabella Callaba (169) and Sadie Guillory (183) each placed top 18. The St. Louis Catholic golf team finished as the Division II boys’ golf runner-up after winning the title a season ago. Sr. Thomas Moore edged the Saints out by just 4 strokes. Junior Ross Anderson meanwhile defended his Div. II individual state title from a season ago with a two-day total of 146. The Saints return their entire team next year as no member of the team is a senior.
The second round of LHSAA baseball playoffs began on Friday, with a few of the local teams taking a series lead. Iota, St. Louis Catholic and Evans all advanced to the quarterfinal round. Barbe, Rosepine and Kinder all took leads in their respective series.
Iowa’s motto, ‘Unfinished Business,’ hung on the outside of the softball team’s dugout for the Class 3A Championship game, unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, that will continue to be the team’s rallying cry next season as the team fell in the Class 3A Softball Championship to Buckeye, 8-6 Saturday at Frasch Park.
Sam Houston had a tough route to the state tournament this year having to get past the No. 1 seed, Pineville, in the quarterfinal round. However, the eighth-seeded Lady Broncos may have had to play the bracket’s hottest team on Friday as No. 4 West Monroe downed Sam Houston, 11-4 at Frasch Park in Sulphur.
The East Beauregard Lady Trojan’s magical season came to an end Friday afternoon as the second-seeded LaSalle Lady Tigers run-ruled No. 11 East Beauregard, 10-0 at Frasch Park in Sulphur.
The Iowa Yellow Jackets entered the 2022 season with one goal— to win the state championship. Top-seeded Iowa got one step closer Friday afternoon by shutting out No. 4 Grant in the semifinal round, 1-0 at Frasch Park in Sulphur.
The Kinder Yellow Jackets’ dominant run through the playoffs came to an end Friday as No. 2 Port Barre edged the third-seeded Lady Jackets, 1-0 at Frasch Park in Sulphur.
Dibbley played a vital part in No. 8 Sam Houston’s toppling of No. 1 seeded Pineville in the quarterfinals of the state softball playoffs - which punched their ticket to the state tournament for the first time in four seasons. She threw a complete game - striking out 6 batters while only giving up 3 runs.
The LHSAA Softball State Tournament is set to begin Friday in Sulphur at Frasch Park as four teams from Southwest Louisiana are among the 28 total teams from the seven non-select classes that will play for the right for a state championship Saturday.
The opening round of the LHSAA baseball playoffs kicked off this week with 6 local first-round games on Monday. Schools are three wins away from the semifinal round that starts May 11 at McMurry Park in Sulphur for non-select, and May 13 at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field in Hammond for the select schools.
The Saints’ title run was anchored once again by a pair of individual state champions as Kai Reinauer successfully defended his singles title as did the doubles team of Eli Crawford and Kai’s brother, Benjamin Reinauer.
The LHSAA released its 2022 baseball playoff brackets Sunday. The semifinal and championship round will be held May 11-14 at McMurry Park in Sulphur for non-select, and at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field in Hammond and will be held May 13-14.
The quarterfinal round of the LHSAA softball playoffs were in full swing today with 14 of our local teams in action across our region. A trip to the state tournament in Sulphur next week on April 29-30 was on the line today to add to the dramatics.
A few of our Baseball teams were in action tonight as the regular season winds down. Reported final scores are found below. To report scores please send them to Sports@kplctv.com.
The second round of the LHSAA softball playoffs kicked off Wednesday with 22 local teams aiming to get to the quarterfinal round. Schools are just two wins away from reaching the state tournament in Sulphur on April 29-30.
The opening round of the LHSAA softball playoffs kicked off this week with 13 local games on Monday and another seven set for Tuesday. Schools are just three wins away from reaching the state tournament in Sulphur on April 29-30.
