Impact Personified: Patrick Taylor retires number of standout Ashtyn Rogers
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Patrick Taylor softball coach Lance Reine drove home the evening of April 7, still astonished at what he previously witnessed.
His Lady Tigers survived a marathon 16-inning game with Hahnville, 1-0, which would have typically gained top billing with a win over a Class 5A school that eventually became Division I state champions.
But that paled in comparison to what senior pitcher Ashtyn Rogers accomplished in the circle. The Southeastern Louisiana signee allowed four hits and walked five in a complete-game effort, but it was her career-high and state-record 34 strikeouts in a 208-pitch outing that was at the heart of a text Reine exchange with the school’s athletic director Brad Womack.
Before Rogers’ arrival six years before, Patrick Taylor was a program with one state quarterfinal appearance to its credit and was a school more recognizable for its academic prowess, where it’s ranked third overall in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report.
The Lady Tigers won their third straight District 9-3A championship and reached the state tournament in Sulphur for the fifth consecutive season, falling to eventual state champion Vandebilt Catholic in the Division II select state semifinals.
Rogers’ credentials were already sparkling when Reine suggested to Womack, after Rogers’ herculean effort, that no player should ever wear No. 19 again.
Womack concurred.
“I told him that she’s just unbelievable,” Reine said to Womack. “I told him that as long as I’m coaching at Patrick Taylor, nobody’s going to wear No. 19. He responded right back and said, ‘We’re just going to retire her jersey.’”
Patrick Taylor recently honored all of its athletes during its end-of-year banquet and managed to save the biggest news for last.
Rogers was named the school’s Female Athlete of the Year, and instead of returning to her table, Womack asked her to remain on stage while Reine made his way to join her.
Womack unfurled a banner with Ashtyn Rogers’ name, No. 19, her years at the school, and her top accomplishments of 800 career strikeouts and her 34-strikeout gem against Hahnville.
“I didn’t know,” Rogers said. “It was a very nice surprise, that’s for sure.”
Reine said Rogers became a role model at the school for everyone to emulate.
Besides a wealth of athletic achievements, Rogers graduated 10th in her class with a 4.94 GPA, scored 28 on the ACT, and was a member of the National Honors Society completed more than 100 service hours.
“For both of us, it was really a no-brainer,” Reine said. “She’s meant so much to the school and brought so much attention to the program. If anybody deserved that, it’s her. She’s a great all-around person. She just deserved it. There was no reason to make her wait.”
Patrick Taylor Science and Technology Regional Academy originally opened in Avondale in 2002, offering seventh and eighth grades. It later became a magnet campus three years later and grew into a full school (6-12) for the 2008-09 school year.
The college preparatory school landed a tour from that of Rogers’ family, searching for the kind of education that would best prepare her for the rigors of college life.
Softball wasn’t part of that equation.
“The campus was beautiful,” she said. “I met a lot of people, and it ended up being a perfect fit for me.”
The New Orleans area also boasts top-rated schools such as Ben Frankling and Haynes Academy followed by Patrick Taylor, where 72% of its students take advanced placement courses and score in the 97th percentile in math and reading proficiency, per U.S. News and World Report.
An entrance exam and requisite score are also required.
“I know in some interviews, Ashtyn was asked, ‘ Why Patrick Taylor?” said Reine, who is the first cousin of Rogers’ mother, Ashley. “She loved the academic side of it, and the campus in general is what drew her there. It wasn’t softball-related. Even as a young player, I think she had the confidence in herself to know that we were going to have a good team. She really fell in love with the school when she walked on campus.”
Opportunity was another drawing card as a 13-year-old, Rogers was varsity ready to help the Lady Tigers compete.
Patrick Taylor lost in the first round of the state playoffs to Academy of Our Lady before the start of its current stretch of five consecutive trips to the state tournament, which included this year’s semifinal for the first time.
“A big part of it was being able to play as much as I could,” Rogers said. “I was the starter since the seventh grade. I was able to get a lot more reps than a lot of girls may be able to. That was a pretty cool experience, and I really couldn’t pass that up either.”
Patrick Taylor had its share of success before Rogers’ arrival, but had never won a district championship or reached Sulphur.
“A lot of people wanted to know where Patrick Taylor was,” Reine said. “There were some good quality players that came in with her (Rogers) that have graduated now. With her, we were making trips to Sulphur. We beat people like Hahnville and Destrehan. She’s just that good.”
The District 9-3A titles found a permanent home at Patrick Taylor, where the Lady Tigers haven’t dropped a league game during the past three seasons.
“I coached T-ball with her parents when Ashtyn and my daughter (Madison) started,” Reine said. “I coached with her dad on her first travel team. Then the opportunity came up to coach at Patrick Taylor, and I couldn’t pass it up to finish with her.”
Patrick Taylor’s trip to the quarterfinals in 2025 was a testament to the growth of a young team that developed around Rogers’ play.
The Lady Tigers endured their share of narrow setbacks, a big reason that contributed to Rogers’ 8-6 record, before putting together a run in the postseason that ended with a quarterfinal loss to Division III power Calvary Baptist.
“When she’s in there, they believe we’re going to win the game no matter what’s going on,” Reine said. “They’re more relaxed. Offensively, it makes a difference because they feel one or two runs is what we need. They believe if Ashtyn’s throwing, we can score one and probably win the game.”
Rogers was named to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A first team in ’25. She struck out 211 batters in 113.2 innings, had a 0.73 ERA with a no-hitter to go with a .412 batting average, seven doubles, six homers, 30 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases.
Rogers’ summer of travel ball led into her senior year, where she turned her dream of playing in college into a reality, becoming the school’s second Division I signee.
Rogers joined the school’s exclusive club, which was started by Jadon Russell (North Carolina A&T in 2024), when she signed with Southeastern Louisiana.
“It’s always been a dream of mine since I started pitching,” she said. “One of my coaches growing up was (former LSU pitcher) Shelby Wickerham. She’s been someone who I admired and wanted to follow in her footsteps and play college ball. I went to college camps at LSU and other places and learned different things. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.”
Rogers, the team’s lone senior in 2026, shared the stage by herself during her signing ceremony with the Lady Lions, which earned a third straight trip to the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid this season.
“It was definitely an emotional day in the best way possible,” she said. “It was proof to me that I had even more to work for. I’m really looking forward to the next four years. They’re so close to home, and I get to represent my home area. The culture they have is amazing. (Head) Coach (Rick) Fremin and staff pour their hearts and souls into the program and players. They put you as a human above before being player, and they hope to grow you, not just as a softball player but as a human being.”
Reine said there was a distinctive feeling on campus emanating from Rogers’ big day.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “The school was really excited. There’s been a lot of excitement around the softball program for the past couple of years, and that’s due to the attention she’s gotten. That’s definitely helped that.”
Reine said the right-handed Rogers added three to four miles per hour to her already electric fastball to complement her arsenal of a drop, rise and change-up.
“She has the ability to control all of her pitches,” he said. “There’s never a time where we had to stay away from something because it wasn’t working. She also seemed to be on this season.”
Rogers doesn’t consider herself a hard thrower, but someone who can command the strike zone and throw pitches to all quadrants of the plate.
“I’ve never had the fastest velocity,” she said. “I’ve always relied on my spin and locating spots, almost like playing a mind game with batters. I’m kind of like (Mississippi State’s) Peja Goold (15-10, 169 strikeouts in 142 innings in ’26), who doesn’t throw that hard. I’m more of an up-and-down pitcher. I like to change speeds. I really keep hitters off balance.”
Patrick Taylor reeled off 19 wins in its first 20 games. The Lady Tigers also rolled through district play, outscoring their competition, 48-9, but had to deal with back-to-back road losses to Hahnville and E.D. White before a strong finish with six wins in eight games to close the regular season.
Included in the stretch were consecutive wins over St. Charles Parish teams Destrehan (3-0 with 15 Ks from Rogers) and Hahnville (1-0) over a five-day span.
“She always pitches in the biggest games,” Reine said. “She wants to throw against the good teams all the time. She’s never going to sit out a game because she doesn’t want to take a loss. She wants those games. I had a conversation with her before the last eight or nine games. I told her it was her senior year, I’m going to give you the ball every time you want it.
“I just wanted her to be honest about how she was feeling and understand we’ve got bigger goals and bigger plans than beating these teams in the regular season,” Reine said. “I have total trust in her to do the right thing in that situation. She’s so mature.”
As the April 7th game with Hahnville unfolded, with the visiting Lady Tigers’ London Lambert standing strong in the circle as well, Reine checked with Rogers to gauge how she felt.
“How do you take the ball away from her?” he said.
Rogers’ previous best for strikeouts in a game was 17 against Haynes Academy when she went well above and beyond that number.
She also played a part in helping the Lady Tigers score the game’s only run in the top of the 16th against Lambert, who had 12 strikeouts.
Her bunt single led off the inning, went all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Leah Godby’s infield single to deep shortstop.
Rogers’ final in the circle went inning when like this – strikeout, walk, strikeout, and strikeout.
“She just dominated from start to finish,” Reine said. “I’ve never been a part of something like that before.”
Rogers struck out 34 of the 58 batters she faced and wasn’t fazed by her team’s two errors.
“I still don’t understand how I was able to do that,” said Rogers, named the Allstate Sugar Bowl Athlete of Month. “It was pretty crazy. I took off school the next day. I was up late. My adrenaline wasn’t wearing off.”
Reine said Rogers didn’t pitch for the next week, allowing her enough rest for her final postseason run.
Rogers became the team’s top batter over his last two seasons, Reine said. Hitting second in the team’s lineup, she batted .475 with 15 doubles, three triples, and 27 RBIs.
Following an opening-round bye, Rogers was dominant in regional and quarterfinal wins over Academy of Our Lady (5-1) and St. Charles Catholic (5-0), advancing to the semifinal round.
Her performance in the quarterfinal victory included 15 strikeouts and three hits allowed, to go with a pair of doubles and two runs scored.
Rogers went 18-4 with a 0.65 ERA and ranked 15th nationally with a career-best 304 strikeouts.
Her final outing in the team’s 6-0 loss to eventual state champion Vandebilt on May 2 that didn’t affect her demeanor one bit.
I wasn’t angry after the game was over,” said Rogers, who pitched 150.2 of her team’s 216 innings this season and was named first team All-State by the Louisiana Softball Coaches Association. “I was more grateful in a sense. I felt like this
“It’s a lot of fun,” Rogers said. “As a team, if I could choose which team would go to Sulphur, it would not have been this team because we were so young. It was amazing that we made it that far with our top four starters being in middle school. It shows that not every team has to be the most talented. You have to have the most grit. We put in a lot of hard work.”
Reine said it was the nine strikeouts in the semifinal that put Rogers at even 800 for her career, exceeding her preseason goal by 100.
“Coach explained that before the season, he had certain goals and encouraged us to do the same,” Rogers said. “I wrote down goals for the team and me personally. My goal was just to get to 700 strikeouts and also make it to Sulphur. It’s a surreal feeling when I look back at what I wrote down.”
With her time at Patrick Taylor complete, Rogers admits she’s not a huge fan of idle time. There’s been some work with a physical therapist, and time back in the gym that helped prepare to take part in the recent LHSCA All-Star doubleheader.
Rogers was the only pitcher for either the East or West teams not to give up a run over the three innings she logged in the two games that finished in 7-7 and 4-4 ties. She didn’t walk anyone, had four strikeouts, and was 0-for-2 at the plate.
She’s also given back to the Westbank area with pitching lessons for 9-year-olds at Westwego Park.
Rogers’ jersey retirement, before she was officially an alumnus of the school, remains of paramount importance.
Her all-around ability was important to the rise of a softball program that no longer operates in obscurity, and her contribution to the school’s academic reputation was equally impressive where 16 valedictorians with 4.96 GPA’s just nudged Rogers’ 4.94 because of a B she had in physics.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Rogers said. “I’ve loved my time at Taylor. I know a lot of people don’t know about our school, but we’re a very academic-based school.”
Five consecutive state tournament berths and three straight district titles are now a standard for other sports at the school to follow. By contrast, Patrick Taylor’s football program reached the state playoffs for the third time in 2025 and won its first playoff game two years earlier.
The school’s athletic banquet became a tribute to Rogers, who had long worn No. 12 during her career and kept it when No. 19 was already taken at Patrick Taylor.
It was long Rogers’ intention to wear No. 19 in memory of her older sister Izabella, who had passed away at three months old. The bond with the number came from Izabella’s birth date – Oct. 19, 2006. – and should Patrick Taylor follow through on plans to build an on-campus softball facility, that jersey number will adorn the outfield fence.
“It will be beautiful to have that number up there,” Rogers said. “That’s a tribute to my sister. I’m very grateful for everyone at Patrick Taylor.”
There were only two people – Reine and Womack – who were aware of the impending announcement.
“There was a lot of crying, lots of emotions,” he said. “We wanted it to be a surprise for her and her family. Everything was perfect.”