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EOE
By JIM BUTLER
It’s not Ebbets Field, or the Polo Grounds, or Forbes Field, or Crosley Field or even the Astrodome, but its demise means just as much to many.
The Alexandria City Council will likely adopt an ordinance at its meeting today authorizing Mayor Jacques Roy to accept the low bid, whatever that is, for selective demolition and clearance of Bringhurst Field.
Vestiges of the grand dame of area baseball will endure but most of her remains will be taken down, before they fall down.
Roy, attuned to the field’s place in hearts and history, says its iconic facade will be 100 percent left intact, but most of the rest has to go.
He said the stadium was the subject of robust discussion in preparation of this fiscal year’s budget (still to be posted online).
The ultimate decision: preserve the bones and structure, remove the eyesore, the blight and the unsafe.
The stadium has stood since 1933, and was renovated in the early 1970s and extensively touched up in the early 1990s, both times in hopes of keeping minor league baseball playing there.
It closed in 2013.
The outfield wall’s removal created a green space for public use in 2017 and a youth park was constructed at the former right field corner.
Discussions continue, the mayor said, about how to best take advantage of space the former ball field provides in the Masonic Drive corridor.
Twenty-four years since he was hired, on a temporary basis, to be the head baseball coach at Louisiana College, 69-year-old Mike Byrnes is still on the job and, like a fine wine, is mellowing and improving with age.
He’s a bit of an oddity – a Catholic who has coached for two-plus decades at a Baptist college. He is an old-school coach who shows up to work as often as seven days a week, but he looks at times like an old hippie with a gray ponytail. That ponytail is his way of paying homage to the late Tommy Boggs, a former major leaguer and coach for Concordia University, who died in 2022 of throat cancer. Boggs and all of his players shaved their heads before a home game against LC several years ago when Mike’s wife, Colynda, was fighting breast cancer.
Byrnes is fresh off guiding the Wildcats to a 34-21 season for the ages. They won the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament championship for the first time. They advanced to the NAIA Regional, and they twice received votes in the NAIA Top 25 rankings. Byrnes’ team ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in sacrifice bunts (60) and they ranked No. 1 in the RRAC in doubles (112).
Byrnes was voted by his peers as the Coach of the Year in the conference – the first time he has ever won outright such an honor. Three other times he had to share the honor when the school was in the NCAA Division 3 American Southwest Conference.
At a campus where Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Billy Allgood became a legend as a basketball and baseball coach and athletics director, Byrnes is the winningest baseball coach in the school’s history with 514 victories. Although Allgood built the campus baseball facility that bears his name, it bears little resemblance to the one that Byrnes has renovated and expanded, all with some $1 million generated over the years through fundraising.
“I knew in 10th grade I wanted to coach,” said Byrnes, who has coached at the high school, college and professional levels. “I had some great mentors when I played at Menard in Billy Horn, Don Boniol and Charlie McArthur.”
A 1973 graduate of Menard Central High School, Byrnes spent time at LSUA and LSU before finishing college at LC in 1979.
An Air Force brat whose father was a medic during the Vietnam War, Byrnes has been a Rapides Parish School Board member, and he doubles now as a justice of the peace in Ward 10. His first coaching stints out of college were at Bolton and Marksville High before he went to Tioga in 1983 to become the head coach for football and baseball and powerlifting. He guided the Indians to back-to-back state baseball titles in 1986 and ’87, and his powerlifting teams won state in 1989, ’90 and ’91.
He then entered the business world for several years, albeit the sports medicine business, and Sheila Johnson, then the athletics director at LC, offered him the job in May of 2000 as head baseball coach. The program was in tatters with bad morale and a 23-73 record for the two previous seasons.
Byrnes agreed to take the job on a part-time basis. “I told her, ‘I’ll give you two years and try to straighten things out.’ I’m still here (no more as a part-timer) so I guess we still haven’t straightened things out.”
“From Day 1, he had a plan,” said Russ Springer, a longtime friend of Byrnes and former LSU and 18-year big league pitcher from Pollock who is a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. “He was not going to use this job as a stepping- stone to go somewhere else. He wanted to stay and build a program, and that’s what he’s done.”
All the while, the rock in his life, he said, has been his wife of 41 years, the former Colynda Hayes, who is cancer-free for 10 years.
“She is my head coach,” he said. “She’s as tough a human being as I’ve ever been around. She makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my guys. She’s at every game.” They live in Tioga, and they have two sons and six grandchildren.
“I’m a baseball coach,” he said, “but I am a husband and grandfather first.”
By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Jay Johnson already has a treasure chest full of great memories in just three seasons as LSU’s head baseball coach.
But in creating more moments he’ll think about when he’s retired many years from now, he has little time to dwell on accomplishments.
For instance, just a few days after LSU’s national championship celebration in Alex Box Stadium last June, he was on a plane to visit and successfully sign Alabama transfer pitcher Luke Holman who has become the ace of the 2024 staff.
On Monday, after the 40-21 Tigers learned they earned an NCAA Tournament invite as the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional playing No. 3 seed Wofford (41-18) on Friday at 11 a.m. CT, Johnson quickly reflected on his team winning four straight SEC Tournament games before losing 4-3 to No. 1 ranked Tennessee in Sunday’s championship game.
“I wish we would have won yesterday,” Johnson said, “but I’ll remember that week for a long time and the evolution of how things happened.”
It started with two dominant starting pitching performances by Gage Jump and Holman respectively in a 9-1 win over Georgia and a stunning 11-0 run-rule beatdown of Kentucky.
It continued with two of the Tigers’ biggest comebacks of the season in 11-10 and 12-11 (in 10 innings) wins over South Carolina when LSU hitters and relievers delivered in the clutch in the closing innings.
The Tigers won seven consecutive games starting with a sweep of Ole Miss in the final SEC series of the regular season to rally for an NCAA tourney bid that seemed an unattainable goal after a 3-12 start in league play.
“The pitching dynamic is good, the bats have certainly gotten better and we’ve played very good defense,” Johnson said. “I feel like we have an identity (with the lethal starting pitching duo of Jump and Holman), we have confidence and that’s probably what makes us tough to play.”
Suddenly, the team that lost its first five SEC series to opponents that all got NCAA tourney invites including three of the top five national seeds (No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 5 Arkansas) is being referred to by national media as one of the hottest teams in college baseball.
“We believe every time we go out there, we’re gonna win the game,” said LSU junior shortstop Michael Braswell III, a South Carolina transfer who batted .352 with 8 RBI to earn SEC All-Tournament team honors. “I can honestly say we didn’t feel that way earlier in the season. Now, we have the mindset that we’re the LSU Tigers and we can beat anybody at any time.”
Nothing gave LSU more confidence than beating South Carolina in Saturday’s SEC tourney semifinals on freshman second baseman Steven Milam’s two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning.
It came moments after home plate umpire Derek Mollica ejected Johnson for arguing an obscure interpretation of a catcher’s interference call against LSU catcher Brady Neal that awarded South Carolina the go-ahead run for an 11-10 lead. Umpires originally ruled the play as an inning-ending third out when Neal tagged out South Carolina’s Blake Jackson who was trying to steal home.
“I literally went out there (to Mollica) not to get kicked out,” Johnson said. “My whole point of contention was how he reversed the call. I was like `So, wait a minute. I can come out here (as did South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston) and say you missed it and then you’re going to change it?’ “
It turned out to be a galvanizing moment when Johnson was banished to the bowels of Hoover Met stadium (“I was in the batting cage, ready to fight everyone,” he said.)
“We all were like `Let’s go out and do this’,” said Tigers’ third baseman Tommy White, another of LSU’s five honorees on the all-tournament team after hitting .416 with 13 RBI, 3 homers, 2 doubles and a triple. “There were no ifs, ands or buts. We gotta go out there and win this thing.”
After playing five games in six days, Johnson said his team won’t have a full-fledged practice until Wednesday just before they board a charter flight to Chapel Hill.
Awaiting the Tigers there is possibly a second-round matchup with site host and No. 4 national seed North Carolina (42-13), the Atlantic Coast Conference champions. In Friday’s first round at 5 p.m,. CT, the Tar Heels play No. 4 seed Long Island (33-23), the Northeast Conference, tournament champions.
“I’m juiced up for it,” Braswell said of LSU’s 36th NCAA tourney appearance. “And I’m not the only one on the team juiced up.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com
By Brad Dison
Bertie is a historical figure who is often overlooked or discounted as a failure, but was he? Bertie was born in Iowa in 1874. His father, Jesse, owned a farm implement store. His mother’s name was Hulda. He had an older brother and eventually, a younger sister. In 1880, Bertie’s father died from a sudden heart attack at the young age of 34. Four years later, his mother died from Typhoid fever. Ten-year-old Bertie and his two siblings were orphans. In 1885, Bertie and his siblings went to Newberg, Oregon, to live with their uncle, a businessman named John Minthorn. Uncle John managed a real estate office called the Oregon Land Company. Bertie dropped out of school at the age of 13 to work in Uncle John’s land company.
In 1891, Bertie enrolled in the first class of the brand new Stanford University. He initially studied mechanical engineering but changed his major to geology after working with Dr. John Casper Branner, the chairman of Stanford’s geology department. In 1894, a strong-minded 20-year-old woman named Lou Henry attended a geology lecture by Dr. Branner and was hooked. Shortly thereafter, she enrolled at Stanford. There, she met Bertie and the two became inseparable. A year after her graduation, Bertie and Lou married. Soon thereafter, Bertie accepted a position as leading engineer in a private Chinese engineering and mining company. The newlyweds packed their meager belongings and moved to Tientsin, China.
At the time, tensions were rising in China. In June 1900, the Boxer Rebellion erupted in Tientsin. The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901 by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, known as the “Boxers” in English due to many of its members having practiced Chinese martial arts, which at the time were referred to as “Chinese boxing.” For almost a month, Tientsin was under heavy fire. While Lou worked in the hospitals, Bertie directed the building of barricades. On July 14, 1901, a multi-national military force defeated the “boxers” in the Battle of Tientsin.
After the rebellion, Bertie and Lou moved to London where Bertie specialized in fixing failing mining companies. Rather than being paid a salary, Bertie took a percentage of the profits if he was able to rejuvenate the companies. Within a short time, Bertie had investments in mines on every continent and had offices in several countries. His talents as a geologist quickly made him wealthy. By 1914, Bertie’s wealth reached approximately $4 million. That would be over $125 million in today’s money.
Bertie wrote the book on mining. Seriously. In 1909, he published a book called “Principles of Mining” which became a standard textbook for geologists. Bertie and Lou were huge fans of Georgius Agricola’s 16th century work on mining and metallurgy called “De re Metallica.” In 1912, they published the first English translation of “De re Metallica.” At about the same time, Bertie joined the board of trustees at his alma mater, Stanford. Bertie was happy with the trajectory of his life. He had a loving wife and two wonderful children. Then something happened which forever changed his life’s trajectory.
In 1914, Germany declared war on France. The American Consul General asked for Bertie’s help in getting stranded American tourists back home. With the backing of Congress and President Woodrow Wilson, Bertie was selected as the committee’s chairman. He acted immediately. Within two weeks, his committee helped more 100,000 Americans return to the United States. Bertie said later, “I did not realize it at the moment, but on August 3, 1914, my career was over forever. I was on the slippery road of public life.”
In August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, which created a food crisis. Germany refused to take responsibility to feed citizens in captured territory. At this point, the United States declared neutrality in what was the early part of World War I. Something had to be done. With the cooperation of President Wilson’s administration, Bertie led a Belgian relief organization called the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Bertie made 40 trips to meet with German authorities in the North Sea and persuaded them to allow food shipments. Under Bertie’s leadership, the commission delivered millions of tons of foodstuffs to Belgium. In 1915, the commission expanded and delivered supplies to people in the German-occupied Northern France. American diplomat Walter Page said Bertie was “probably the only man living who has privately negotiated understandings with the British, French, German, Dutch, and Belgian governments.” Remember, Bertie held no political office.
When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson remembered how well Bertie had handled the Commission for Relief in Belgium and France and appointed him to head the U.S. Food Administration. Bertie’s herculean task was to manage the country’s food supplies during the war. To avoid rationing, which other wartime countries were forced to undertake, Bertie established set days for people to avoid eating certain foods including the cleverly named meatless Mondays and wheatless Wednesdays. The plan worked and allowed the Food Administration to send foodstuffs to allies of the United States. Bertie was referred to as an expert administrator for his work.
After the war, Europe still faced food shortages. The Food Administration, whose name changed to the American Relief Administration, provided food to central and eastern Europe. Bertie also founded the European Children’s Fund to provide food and aid to some fifteen million children from 14 countries. Despite his request that he not be named in publicity for the food program, Bertie’s selfless work during the war made him a public hero. His abilities were also praised when he worked as Secretary of Commerce under presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin “Silent Cal” Coolidge. Despite going from being an orphan to a multimillionaire, personally negotiating with leaders of warring nations to provide aid which potentially saved the lives of millions of people in multiple countries, Bertie is often considered a failure. How is this possible? When the stock market crashed in the fall of 1929 followed shortly thereafter by the Great Depression, Bertie was the president of the United States. Bertie was the family nickname for Herbert Hoover.
Sources:
1. “Herbert Hoover,” The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/
2. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, https://hoover.archives.gov/.
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
May 23
Weapons charges
Andy Simon, 49, Alexandria — false imprisonment armed with dangerous weapon, armed robbery, parole violations, $150,000 bail.
Other charges
Rodney Frank, 61, Cheneyville — aggravated assault domestic abuse, $100 bail;
Vance Manuel Jr., 49, Ball — theft motor vehicle, resisting, burglary, possession stolen vehicle, theft, criminal conspiracy, failure to appear 5 counts, $38,000 bail;
Harry Walker III, 33, Pineville — theft of motor vehicle, $10,000 bail.
This date: 19 arrests including 9 with one or more contempt charges.
May 24
Desmond Isles, 32, Alexandria — stalking, unlawful communication telephone or telecommunications, suspension/revocation, probation violation, $3,100 bail;
Melvin Johnson, 67, Alexandria — rape 3rd degree, contributing to delinquency commission of crime, incest crime against nature, $300,000 bail;
Wesley Johnson, 29, Alexandria — probation violation, $50,000 bail.
This date: 12 arrests, with 6 including one or more contempt counts.
May 25
Sam Deal IV, 43, Alexandria — stalking 3 counts, indecent behavior with juvenile, 2 counts, obscenity 5 counts, $62,500 bail;
Katieanna Scott, 24, Alexandria — aggravated assault child present, domestic abuse battery child present l, $2,500 bail.
This date: 13 arrests including 5 with one or more contempt charges.
May 26
Weapons
Daga Dixon, 29, Alexandria — aggravated assault with firearm, discharging firearm, $500;
Shelia Lowe, 57, Boyce — illegal use weapons, aggravated battery, no bond set;
Other charges
Jo Ann Celestine, 54, Alexandria — aggravated battery, criminal damage, obscenity, assault, battery 2 counts, $2,000 bail;
Charmain Lee, 30, Alexandria — battery on officer 3 counts, assault, resisting, public intoxication, $3,850 bail.
This date: 18 arrests, 5 including one or more contempt counts
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
May 23
Kendrick Newman, 42, Alexandria — possession, parole violations, $1,500 bail;
Courtney St. Romain, 41, Mansura — possession 3 counts, $4,500 bail.
May 24
Elizabeth Ansel, 40, Alexandria — possession, paraphernalia, parole violations, contempt 2 counts, $7,000 bail;
Corey Dupont, 38, Alexandria — possession, $2,500 bail.
May 25
Ashley Brosett, 35, Boyce — possession, theft, contempt, $3,500 bail;
Tonya Tibbs, 46, Colfax — possession, paraphernalia, resisting, theft, contempt, $4,000 bail.
May 26
Kendall Allen, 27, Alexandria — possession, contraband penal facility, no MVI sticker, no motorcycle endorsement, no driver’s license,
unauthorized use motor vehicle, interference with investigation, $3,800 bail;
Shelby Chisenhall, 59, Boyce — possession, paraphernalia, $3,000 bail;
Terry Chisenhall, 52, Boyce — possession, paraphernalia, $3,000 bail.
Louisiana State Police has been made aware of a defect in Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI) stickers issued for the year 2026. Upon initial adhesion to a vehicle windshield, the “26” sticker has a yellow background. Due to sun exposure, the sticker may potentially fade from yellow to clear or white.
Individuals who have received 2026 MVI stickers from January 1, 2024, until the present date may experience fading. It is important to note that despite the fading, these MVI stickers will remain valid. No action is required by the vehicle owner. The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) is aware of this issue, and is working to replace the current unissued inventory.
By JIM BUTLER
No more books and studies,
Everybody’s gonna have some fun,
Everybody’s gonna jump and run,
School is out at last!
With apologies to Gary U.S. Bonds, the words are out of order but the message clear — kids are out of school beginning today and motorists are urged by agencies to increase their vigilance.
From now until classes resume on August 8 there will be more youngsters out and about in neighborhoods ordinarily relatively quiet from 7 till 4.
Youngsters will be on bikes, skateboards, or running about in driveways and on sidewalks, and often in streets.
Police urge extra caution going to and fro, particularly in residential areas.
Keep summer streets as safe as possible, they urge.
As the United States commemorates Memorial Day, paying tribute to those who have given their lives in military service to our nation, Americans will take a long holiday weekend with most businesses and institutions closed on Monday.
The Rapides Parish Journal team is taking a break as well, pausing our normal Monday publication.
The Journal will resume our free news and sports coverage with our Tuesday morning edition.
We hope you and yours enjoy the holiday, and keep in your thoughts those brave men and women throughout our nation’s history who through their military service and valor made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our American way of life.
By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Featuring a squad that returned eight starters and 14 seniors off last year’s state runner-up team, the Menard Eagles had high expectations for a state championship in 2024.
While they fell short of the goal, losing to St. Charles 1-0 in the semifinals, the Eagles boasted the claim of being top dogs among Rapides Parish baseball teams this past season.
They defeated Alexandria Senior High, Buckeye and Pineville at the Terry Mathews Memorial Tournament in late February and early March before knocking off Tioga in early April and sweeping Glenmora in District 4-2A action, finishing the season 6-0 against parish teams and 23-9 on the year.
So it’s no surprise Menard leads the way with four selections, including the top two pitchers in seniors Coen Laroux and Cooper Scott, on the Rapides Parish Journal’s 2024 All-Parish Baseball Team.
ASH placed three players on the 15-man squad that features four pitchers, eight position players, a designated hitter and two utility players.
Buckeye, Grace Christian and Pineville each had two selections on the team, while Glenmora and Tioga had one selection apiece.
Below is the list of All-Parish selections along with their season accolades as well as an alphabetical listing of the next 15 players chosen as “Best of the Rest.”
Pitcher: Adam Brodnax, Jr., Buckeye – Despite not pitching in February due to basketball season, Brodnax finished with a 6-1 record and a 0.40 ERA in 10 starts, throwing four complete games and two shutouts. He only gave up 28 total hits while striking out 52 batters in 52 ⅔ innings. At the plate, Brodnax batted .274 with three doubles, two triples, 11 runs and 19 RBIs.
Pitcher: Ben Eskew, Sr., ASH – The Trojans’ ace and senior right-hander finished the season with an 8-3 record and a 3.77 ERA, earning first-team all-district in District 2-5A and Academic All-State. During the playoffs, Eskew went 2-0, giving up just one earned run in 13 ⅔ innings as the Trojans finished one win shy of Sulphur.
Pitcher: Coen Laroux, Sr., Menard – The Eagles’ No. 1 starter and Centenary signee led them in appearances, starts and innings pitched, getting the ball in most of the team’s biggest games, including the 1-0 semifinal loss to St. Charles, when he pitched a two-hitter. Laroux finished the season with a 6-5 record, 1.91 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 66 innings pitched while batting .291 with four doubles, a triple, 21 RBIs and 27 runs scored.
Pitcher: Cooper Scott, Sr., Menard – The All-Parish Most Outstanding Player, the LSUE signee was lights-out on the mound, finishing with a 9-0 record, 1.02 ERA and one save in 12 appearances. He gave up just 13 total runs, including nine earned, and struck out 59 batters in 62 innings. When he wasn’t pitching, Scott found a home in right field and shook off an early-season slump to finish with a .292 batting average, eight doubles, five triples, three home runs and 20 RBIs while leading the team with 24 walks, 33 runs and 23 stolen bases.
Catcher: Ben Wade, Sr., Menard – The College of the Desert (California) signee returns for a second straight season on the All-Parish team after batting .300 with three doubles, one triple and 15 RBIs while making just three errors and throwing out nine runners trying to steal. Wade was batting just .204 through March but was the team’s second-leading hitter with a .444 average in April and May.
First Base: Drake Aldredge, Sr., Menard – The Eagles’ most consistent hitter throughout the season, the Louisiana Christian signee returns for a second straight season as the All-Parish first baseman after leading the Eagles with a .402 batting average, 39 hits, 11 doubles and 26 RBIs while also adding a home run, scoring 13 runs, striking out just six times and making just three errors in 218 chances.
Second Base: Seth Cook, Sr., Grace Christian – An All-Parish selection last season as a pitcher, Cook only threw 16 innings as a senior, striking out 33 batters and giving up just seven hits in compiling a 4-0 record and 0.00 ERA. He spent the majority of the season at second base, batting .365 with nine home runs, two doubles, one triple, 44 RBIs and 32 runs.
Third Base: Caden Extine, So., ASH – Last year’s All-Parish second baseman, Extine found a consistent home at third base as a sophomore, raising his batting average to .341 with eight doubles, two triples and a team-high 31 RBIs.
Shortstop: Cameren Parks, Sr., Glenmora – The LSUA signee and Wildcats’ leadoff hitter batted .440 on the season with 11 doubles, one triple, one home run, 23 stolen bases, 24 RBIs and 45 runs scored while also going 5-0 on the mound with a 1.52 ERA. Coach Aaron West called Parks “the best player I’ve ever coached here in 10 years.”
Outfield: Miguel Magallon, Jr., ASH – The Trojans’ left fielder was their leading hitter on the season, finishing with a .357 batting average, seven doubles, one triple and 19 RBIs while helping the Trojans to the Division I Select quarterfinals.
Outfield: Alex Morrison, Sr., Tioga – The LSUE signee and two-time first-team all-district selection led the Indians with a .395 batting average, two home runs, five doubles, one triple, 22 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
Outfield: Matt Warden, Sr., Pineville – The LSUA signee switched positions this season, moving from behind the plate to primarily right field while also adding pitching duties. Warden batted a team-leading .357 with eight doubles, five triples, two homers and 16 RBIs despite playing through a broken thumb on his left hand. He also went 3-1 on the mound with a 3.80 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 29 ⅓ innings pitched.
Designated Hitter: Wes Oates, Jr., Pineville – The parish’s top power hitter took over the role of full-time catcher and built upon his strong sophomore season to become the Rebels’ most potent weapon, finishing the season with a .305 batting average, four doubles, one triple and team-highs of seven homers and 29 RBIs.
Utility: Drew Tyson, Jr., Buckeye – The junior was a true utility guy for the Panthers, spending time on the mound, behind the plate and at shortstop. Tyson finished the season with a 7-3 record and 0.58 ERA while striking out 70 batters and giving up just 43 hits in 60 innings pitched while also batting .333 with six doubles and three triples.
Utility: Kanyon Wright, Jr., Grace Christian – The Warriors’ top pitcher went 8-3 with a 1.51 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched while batting a team-high .452 with 11 home runs, five doubles, 50 RBIs and 44 runs scored. He also walked 34 times and had a .636 on-base percentage.
Best of the Rest
Maddox Attales, Jr., SS/RHP, Grace Christian
Blade Barrett, Sr., RHP/1B/C, Pineville
Haidyn Boone, Jr., SS/RHP, Buckeye
Keyan Bordelon, Sr., 2B/RHP, Glenmora
Cody Davis, Sr., C, Grace Christian
Trey Harper, Fr., C, Tioga
Michael Henry, Sr., RHP, Menard
Gavin Hilton, Sr., SS, Menard
Alex Jeansonne, Sr., RHP/3B/SS, Rapides
Jack Lee, Fr., RHP, ASH
Landon Locke, Jr., OF, Oak Hill
Austin McMickin, Jr., RHP/1B/3B, Oak Hill
Jayden Paul, Sr., OF/SS, Pineville
Brayden Rachal, Jr., C, ASH
Ryan Reeves, Jr., 1B, Tioga
JOURNAL SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. – LSU shortstop Michael Braswell III lined a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth inning Thursday night to break a tie and lift the Tigers to a comeback 11-10 SEC Tournament win over South Carolina at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
LSU rallied to erase deficits of 5-1 and 10-7.
LSU, which has won six straight games, advances to the tournament semifinal round at noon Saturday versus either South Carolina or Kentucky. The Tigers improved to 39-20, while South Carolina dropped to 35-22.
South Carolina and Kentucky will play at 3 p.m. CT Friday in an elimination game, and the winner will face LSU in Saturday’s semifinal.
The Tigers are 17-5 in their last 22 games overall and 13-5 in their last 18 games against SEC teams.
“Great baseball game tonight, so proud of our team,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “Really for the last month, every win we’ve had has been the most important win. Tonight was the best win of the season.”
Trailing 10-9 entering the top of the ninth, LSU opened the inning with back-to-back singles by second baseman Steven Milam and by centerfielder Jake Brown. A flyout by rightfielder Ashton Larson advanced pinch runner Paxton Kling – who was running for Milam – to third base, and the Tigers tied the game when catcher Alex Milazzo delivered a sacrifice fly to score Kling.
Braswell, who played South Carolina for two seasons before transferring to LSU last summer, then delivered the game-winning hit against his former team as he slapped a single down the left-field line to score Brown.
“Michael, what a special player and performance tonight,” Johnson said. “Couldn’t be prouder of him. He’s been one of the best shortstops in the country, especially over the last three or four weeks he’s taken us to a new level since moving him into a lead-off spot. He’s playing his best baseball right now this season.”
LSU reliever Fidel Ulloa (2-1) earned the win, as he worked the final 1.2 innings and limited South Carolina to no runs on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts. Ulloa pitched around a one-single in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory.
LSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when second baseman Steven Milam produced an RBI single.
The Gamecocks erupted for five runs in the third as first baseman Ethan Petry provided a run-scoring double and catcher Cole Messina blasted a grand slam, his 20th home run of the season.
LSU responded in the top of the fourth with four runs, as designated hitter Hayden Travinski lined an RBI double, Milam smacked another run-scoring single and centerfielder Jake Brown launched a two-run homer, his third dinger of the season.
The Tigers reclaimed the lead in the fifth when first baseman Jared Jones unloaded a solo homer, his 23rd dinger of the year.
South Carolina tied the contest at 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth as second baseman Parker Noland lifted a sacrifice fly.
An RBI groundout in the sixth inning by third baseman Tommy White gave LSU a 7-6 advantage, but the Gamecocks struck for four runs in the bottom of the frame. Messina and second baseman Parker Nolan each lined two-out, two-run singles to give South Carolina a 10-7 lead.
A South Carolina infield error on a sharp ground ball hit by LSU leftfielder Josh Pearson with the bases loaded in the eighth inning scored two runs and allowed the Tigers to narrow the deficit to 10-9.
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
May 22
Weapon charges
Tamarcus Fletcher, 37, Pineville — firearm possession by convicted felon, careless operation, misdemeanor possession, $1,500 bail;
Other charges
Matthew Calvert, 42, Pineville — domestic abuse battery, $1,500 bail;
Jermaine Rushing, 39, Alexandria — battery 2nd degree, $10,000 bail.
This date: 12 arrests, including 7 with one or more contempt counts.
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
May 22
Raymond Dunn, 36, Boyce — possession 2 counts, paraphernalia, contempt 4 counts, $13,500 bail;
Sumer George, 34, Boyce — possession 2 counts, paraphernalia, contempt, $10,000 bail.
How long have you waited to hear the great news that “The veggies are ready!” Farmer Jason Anderson has opened Anderson’s Produce for the 2024 season with an abundance of fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables. So “Come and get ‘em!”
Anderson’s Produce has an abundance of fresh squash, onions, snap beans, and potatoes grown in the rich fertile soil of south Red River Parish. And there are more coming in every day.
And Farmer Anderson said, “This year we have an abundant crop of ripe, juicy peaches. There have been a few slim years, but this year’s crop is the best I’ve seen in years.” You know you want them, so come and get peaches picked today at the peak of freshness.
Now open for the 2024 season, Anderson’s Produce on Highway 174, just off I-49 and La 1. Click on https://andersonsproduceandplantfarm.com or phone 318-932-1432 or come by the farm. The freshest fruits and vegetables are ready for you at Anderson’s Produce.
By JIM BUTLER
Almost 11,000 cases were filed in Ninth Judicial District Court in 2023, about 600 more than the year before.
The Louisiana Supreme Court annual report breaks the filings down as:
Juvenile, 736;
Civil, 3,184;
Criminal, 2,721;
Traffic, 4,335.
Of the cases, 23 went to trial by one of the district’s seven judges (one judgeship was vacant the last four months of the year). Five trials were civil cases, 18 criminal.
Statewide there were 131 civil trials and 558 criminal at the district court level.
The report does not indicate how many of the district cases filed were resolved by year’s end.
It does do so for Alexandria (Judge Richard Starling Jr.) and Pineville (Judge Gary K. Hayes) city courts.
Alexandria had 13,467 cases filed and resolved 11,379. Filings:
Civil: 2,411, 1,431 terminated;
Criminal: 6,489, 5,277 terminated;
Traffic: 4,567, 4,671 terminated (includes some cases carried over from prior year).
Pineville City Court had 6,206 filings, with 3,970 terminated. Filings:
Civil: 600, 613 terminated (includes prior year cases);
Criminal: 2,899, 936 terminated;
Traffic: 2,707, 3,970 terminated.
City courts are limited to civil suits including involving $50,000 or less in claims. Criminal jurisdiction is limited to alleged transgressions of city ordinances and state law misdemeanors.