The 2023 LHSAA State Tournament week is finally here, as there are only four teams in each division left vying for the chance to be named State Champions for this spring.  Below, we preview the LHSAA Non-Select D-I State Tournament, which is set to begin this Thursday, May 11, 2023, at McMurray Park in Sulphur, LA.  The four teams left in this division have been four of, if not, the best four teams all spring.  They're the top four seeds in this division, which should make for some fantastic baseball.  Be sure to continue to follow us, across all of our social media platforms, for complete coverage of the 2023 LHSAA State Tournament!

 

Non-Select Division I State Tournament Preview

 

#1 West Monroe vs. #4 Sam Houston

Date: Thursday May 11, 2023

Time: 5 P.M.

Location: McMurray Park (Field 40) Sulphur, LA

 

West Monroe High School

Regular Season Record: 29-3

Head Coach: Wade Simoneaux

Playoff Results: Bi-District Round Bye, Regional Round defeated Fontainebleau, Quarterfinal Round defeated St. Amant

 

Sam Houston High School

Regular Season Record: 27-4

Head Coach: Chad Hebert

Playoff Results: Bi-District Round Bye, Regional Round defeated Benton, Quarterfinal Round defeated Live Oak

 

West Monroe/Sam Houston Preview

The Rebels of West Monroe come in as the #1 seed and are the defending Class 5A State Champions with nearly their entire lineup back from last season.  Sam Houston has once again showed this season that they are a program that's here to stay for the long haul.  Both of these teams have powerful and dynamic offenses with players that can impact the game in a multitude of ways.  West Monroe is led on offense by a trio of juniors in John Pearson (LSU commit), Hayden Federico (Ole Miss commit), and Trey Hawsey (Louisiana Tech commit), who were all starters on last year's state title team.  Seniors Trent Anderson (BRCC commit), Jack Cowan (BRCC commit), Hemi Humphries, and Nolan Norris have also been steady performers for the Rebels this spring.  The offense doesn't stop there for West Monroe, as they have talented underclassmen as well, such as a sophomores Zach Simpson and Tyler Roark.  Roark hit two homeruns in the quarterfinal round against St. Amant.  Sam Houston has their own version a "three-headed monster" at the top of their lineup, which all starts with senior Sam Ardoin (Texas signee) who has had a jam up senior year.  Junior Griffin Hebert (ULL commit) hits behind Ardoin and is the "action guy" in the Broncos lineup, as he can lay bunt down or hit a double.  Following Hebert is senior Dylan Thompson (LSU signee) who is one of the Broncos run producers.  Another name to keep an eye on in Sam Houston's lineup is sophomore Ashton Bultron, who has had a couple of big-time hits this spring, with his biggest being a three-run homerun in the quarterfinal round vs. Live Oak.  On the pitching side of things, we feel that West Monroe can go with one of three options: junior LHP Brennan Eager, sophomore RHP Andrew Ferguson, or freshman LHP Bradyn Garner (LSU commit).  Eager has been one of the better stories so far this post-season, after winning the Class 5A Most Outstanding Player award for the state tournament last year.  He's won both of his playoff starts this post-season and has done so with a torn UCL ligament, which is astonishing to say the least.  Ferguson has been a steady performer for two years now for the Rebels and is a strike thrower and competitor.  Garner is the youngest of the bunch, but may have the best "stuff" and upside.  As for Sam Houston and who they'll decide to go to on the mound, it really comes down to either sophomore LHP Cole Flanagan or senior RHP Dylan Thompson.  Flanagan has pitched in a lot of big games already this spring and saved his best outing of the year for last week in a complete game effort to defeat Live Oak in Game 1 of the quarterfinals.  Thompson has some of the best "stuff" on the Broncos staff and is a proven senior who's pitched in his fair share of big games.  Both of these teams are very similar and are both extremely well-coached, so we fully expect this one to come down to the wire with the winning team likely making fewer mistakes and collecting a couple of more big hits.

 

#2 Barbe vs. #3 Sulphur

Date: Thursday May 11, 2023

Time: 5 P.M.

Location: McMurray Park (Field 41) Sulphur, LA

 

Barbe High School

Regular Season Record: 33-1

Head Coach: Glenn Cecchini

Playoff Results: Bi-District Round Bye, Regional Round defeated Thibodeaux, Quarterfinal Round defeated Neville

 

Sulphur High School

Regular Season Record: 30-4

Head Coach: Sam Moore

Playoff Results: Bi-District Round Bye, Regional Round defeated Destrehan, Quarterfinal Round defeated Central BR

 

Barbe/Sulphur Preview

The last time the Bucs and Tors faced off against each other at the state tournament, they set a state record with over 7,000 people in attendance in their 2015 semifinal matchup, in which Barbe came out victorious on route to winning the state title that season.  It's only fitting that the two teams meet again this season to decide who goes on to the state finals.  Barbe has been nearly perfect this season with their only loss coming at the hands of Sam Houston, a game in which the Bucs had the lead in the 7th inning, before the Broncos came storming back to beat them by one run.  In this semifinal matchup, we fully expect Barbe to send junior RHP Landon Victorian (LSU commit) to the mound, while we expect Sulphur to send senior LHP Jake Brown (LSU signee) to the mound, in what will be a re-match of their regular season meeting, in which the Bucs won by a score of 5-3.  Victorian has been sensational for Barbe this season, currently owning a 7-0 record, 0.96 ERA, and a whopping 76 K's to only 3 BB.  Brown has been equally as good for the Tors, and in his regular season matchup against the Bucs he punched out 11 and had some of his best stuff working that day, albeit in a losing effort.  This game screams that we're going to see another classic pitching duel between the two LSU recruits, as runs will be at a premium, especially early in the game.  If either team gets a baserunner on early, we fully expect to see some "small ball" deployed to advance runners and put things in motion.  When the Bucs and Tors meet up, especially in games of this magnitude, the game is usually won or lost on a couple of key plays that one team makes over the other, and we expect that to be the case again this Thursday evening.