The 2023 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, our staff is excited for the upcoming spring season.  Players and coaches have been working all fall and through December, in preparation for the upcoming season and as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Louisiana.

Programs across the state have goals and aspirations to finish the year in Sulphur, LA at the LHSAA State Tournament, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes a reality.  We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams and players across the state, as we preview many of the great programs from Louisiana.  We will take you right up to the first pitch of this season with these team previews and we'll continue providing coverage throughout the spring. 

Please keep checking back throughout the season, as we strive to be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across Louisiana.  Each week we will release our players of the week, as well as our Power 25 Rankings, which encompasses the top 25 teams in the state, regardless of class.  

*Please note that all information is based on team preview questionnaires that were sent out and returned by the participating high school coaches.  If you did not receive a questionnaire and would like to fill one out, please send an email to [email protected].

-High School Name: Vandebilt Catholic High School

-Coach’s Name: Chad Menard

-Classification: Class 4A (Select Division II)

-District: 7-4A

-No. of Returning Positional Starters: 1

-No. of Returning Pitchers: 1

-Team Strengths: Winning Culture

-Top Returning Players: 2023 SS Diego Archila, 2024 MIF Owen Gaudet, 2025 LHP James Guidry

 

 

Team Outlook

Vandebilt Catholic had one of the best seasons in school history last spring.  The Terriers finished the 2022 campaign with a 33-8 overall record, on route to winning the Select Division II State Championship by a score of 12-2 over University Lab.  Head Coach Chad Menard has built a winning culture in his first two seasons at the helm, as Vandebilt Catholic went 31-7 during the 2021 season and made a semifinals appearance, before winning it all last year.  Coach Menard and the Terriers have their work cut out for them in 2023, as they graduated 10 seniors from last year's state championship team that include Caleb Ougel (Hendrix College), Eli David (Louisiana-Monroe), and Owen Schexnaydre (LSU-Eunice) who was the 2022 Class 4A MVP and Division II State Championship Game MVP, after going 11-3 with a 1.18 ERA, and hitting .290 with 23 RBI.  Senior Diego Archila is the lone starter that returns for Coach Menard this season and he will once again man the shortstop position, while anchoring the offense out of the leadoff spot.  Archila hit .317 last spring with 33 RS, 27 RBI, and 18 SB.  Junior MIF Owen Gaudet suffered an unfortunate season-ending neck injury last year and was only able to play in 4 games, but he's back healthy now and will be relied upon heavily up the middle with Archila.  Gaudet has a projectable 6'2" 180 lbs. frame and according to Coach Menard, he's got "mad juice in his bat", and is also a solid base runner.  A young guy to keep an eye on to help fill the void left by Schexnaydre is Sophomore LHP James Guidry.  The southpaw has a long limbed 6'1" 165 lbs. frame with a loose and whippy arm.  He's a savvy ballplayer that logged 13 varsity innings last spring, as a freshman, and his biggest outing came during the quarterfinal round, where he earned the series clinching save to help move the Terriers to the state tournament.  Vandebilt Catholic will run into familiar foes such as Teurlings Catholic and St. Louis Catholic in the Select Division II playoffs this spring.  There's a definite rebuild that's going to be happening in Houma, LA this year for Coach Menard and company, but last year's team laid the foundation and road map for future teams to be successful.  The Terriers will probably experience their fair share of growing pains this spring, but there's definitely a winning culture at Vandebilt Catholic, so we expect this year's group to end up playing their best baseball when it counts.

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