By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
When Aaron West arrived as Glenmora’s baseball coach a decade ago, he heard talk of a young group of elementary kids who had a chance to be special.
Fast forward to today and that group of five seniors make up the backbone of this year’s Wildcats team.
Unfortunately, the Class of 2024 got caught in a numbers game as Glenmora, historically a Class B school, moved up to Class 2A during their junior and senior seasons. (They drop back down to Class B next year.)
That pits the Wildcats against a much deeper talent pool of teams in the Division III Select playoffs including two-time defending state champion St. Charles, Parkview Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Menard and University Lab.
The latter school is where the Wildcats (19-9) will travel this weekend to face the third-seeded Cubs (22-8) in the second round of the playoffs after sweeping Beekman Charter 6-5 and 11-1 last week.
“It’s honestly the worst break, the worst draw, the worst luck a senior class at this school has ever gotten,” West said. “If we’re in the class that we’ve been in for the history of this school, the previous history, we’ve got a chance to play for a state championship.”
Although they recognize the challenge gets much tougher, the Wildcat seniors – Keyan Bordelon, Riley Coker, Hunter Gillispie, Cameren Parks and JT Thrasher – are hoping to play together as long as possible.
“It’s just something special to us,” said Gillispie, the team’s catcher whose younger brother, Wyatt, is one of five freshmen starters for the Wildcats. “We’ve been working since we’ve been eighth-graders on this team. We’re just trying to get one game at a time and keep moving on.”
“We know the schedule’s gonna be a whole lot harder than what it has been,” said Parks, a shortstop and pitcher, “so just we gotta be focused 24/7 and try to play our best games every day.”
West said this is his most talented group at Glenmora since the 2017 team that finished as state runner-up, and he believes if they play to their ability the Wildcats have a chance to beat anyone in Division III.
“So many people wrote us off – not here, we all believe,” West said. “The community support’s been great. The school believes in us because the program’s been good. But I don’t think anyone quite understood what this level of baseball really was. The way we’ve competed last year into this year, I couldn’t ask any more of them. I’m proud of them, and I hope things work out the rest of the season and we can just make more memories.”
DISTRICT TRACK CHAMPIONS: Jaylin Johnson and JT Lindsey led Alexandria Senior High to wins in the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays as the Trojans defeated Ruston by two points to win the District 2-5A meet. Johnson finished third in the 100 meters, while Lindsey finished second in the 200.
Hunter Rivet extended his school record in the discus to 173 feet, 5 inches to win that event, and he finished second in the shot put (47-11). Omar Isa won the 800 meters and ran legs on the first-place 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay teams, and Marquis Butler turned in one of the top triple jumps in the state at 47-5.
The Lady Trojans also won the District 2-5A title, defeating Ruston by 17 points. Jakyra Edwards paced the team with wins in the 100 (12.16), 200 (25.24) and 400-meter relay.
Buckeye sophomore Abbi Poche won triple gold medals in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters to lead the Lady Panthers to the District 2-3A championship. The Lady Panthers scored 175 points to finish ahead of second-place Bunkie.
Menard swept the District 4-2A titles with the girls scoring 206 points to outpace Rosepine and the boys tallying 177 points to finish ahead of Oakdale.
A’Shyria Burns won four individual events to pace the Lady Eagles, taking first in the long jump (18-7), triple jump (38-2), 100 meters (12.42) and 100-meter hurdles (15.37). Carly Meynard won the shot put (35-3) and javelin (96-8), while Cami Harrison claimed the 300-meter hurdles (48.56) and pole vault (11-0).
Austin Siebeneicher won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 to pace the Eagles, while Jake Vaughn (144-1) and Jay Guillory (132-8) finished 1-2 in the javelin and Cooper Scott won the shot put (43-2.5).
Northwood-Lena, led by Alaya Cornett’s first-place finishes in the long jump (14-10) and 300-meter hurdles (55.47) and runner-up showing in the 100-meter hurdles (18.25), won the District 3-1A girls title. Raygan Welch also placed on the podium in three events for the Lady Gators: discus (1st, 85-7), javelin (2nd, 93-7.5) and shot put (3rd, 27-7).
Grace Christian easily outpaced Monterey and Rapides to win the District 5-B boys and girls titles.
Tucker McCoy won the boys javelin title with a throw of 167-5, and Brandt Rachel swept the boys 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Audrey Tarver won the girls 200, 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles, and Mallory Byrd won the 1,600 and 3,200.
EAGLE BASEBALL SIGNEES: Six Menard seniors signed scholarships to play baseball at the college level during a ceremony on April 16 in the Menard gym.
Right fielder and right-handed pitcher Cooper Scott headlined the group by signing with national junior college power LSU-Eunice. Scott was one of three Eagles to sign with junior colleges, joining catcher Ben Wade (College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California) and left fielder Case Butterfield (Southern Arkansas Tech).
First baseman Drake Aldredge was the only player to sign locally as he is headed to Louisiana Christian. Right-handed pitcher and middle infielder Coen Laroux signed with Centenary College of Shreveport, while outfielder Jayden Williams signed with Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.
WARHORSES HEADED TO JUCO: Peabody seniors Jordan Mathews and Justin Burns signed to play junior-college basketball last week after the pair of state all-stars led the Warhorses to the Division II Select state championship.
Mathews, a 6-foot-5 forward who was the Rapides Parish Journal’s Outstanding Player after averaging 16.3 points and 11 rebounds per game, signed with Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. Angelina finished 21-11 this past season and lost in the quarterfinals of its regional tournament.
Burns, a second-team all-parish selection after averaging 14.7 points and 14.3 rebounds per game, signed with Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas. Highland finished 19-13 and lost in the second round of its regional tournament.