A Show of Respect: Opposition deals with impact of Hahnville’s Koa Romero
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Hahnville trailed by four runs going into the final inning against Dutchtown in the fifth game of this season. There was still a chill in the February air when the two teams met in Riverside Academy’s tournament.
The Tigers reduced their deficit to three runs, loaded the bases with one out with junior Koa Romero coming to the plate.
That resulted in a pitching change and an unconventional move from Dutchtown’s coaching staff, instead of pitching to Romero, a guy who tormented the Griffins the year before with a pair of homers and four RBIs in a 4-for-4 performance.
This time, they opted to walk him which forced in a run.
“I went to (pitching coach) Troy (Templet) and he said to put him on,” said Dutchtown baseball coach Chris Schexnaydre, now in his 19th season. “I said, ‘Put him on. We’re going to Barry Bonds him’? He said the guy wasn’t going to beat him. I said the guy on deck (Landon Teague) just hit a home run the game before us, he can leave the yard, too. He said yes, but this guy’s not beating us.”
The strategy paid off.
Dutchtown was able to retire the next two batters on fly outs – one to right field, the other to second base – and survived, 8-6.
“At the time, the way the kid swings the bat, it was probably the right decision, especially with the wind blowing out in a not-so-big park,” said Schexnayder, whose team defeated Hahnville, 5-1, two days later. “He hit one the game before against Riverside and it got out of there in a hurry. Most of our games are on YouTube and I haven’t gone back to watch to see what they said when we did that.
“I give all the credit to Troy because it was a great call. That’s why he makes the big bucks,” Schexnayder said. “I was nervous about it because if you do it, and the next guy hits one out and walks it off everyone, including your parents, thinks that is the dumbest decision ever made. The Romero kid is a hell of a baseball player. He can really swing it. It comes off his bat different.”
Such admiration for Romero’s ability to break open games with one swing of the bat has been a developing trait since he cracked Hahnville’s varsity lineup as a freshman.
Not only has the 5-foot-10, 220-pounder hit for a high average, but his power prowess has figured heavily into Hahnville’s season heading into Thursday’s Division I non-select regional playoff series. The No. 5 Tigers (27-6) host No. 12 Northshore (26-9) in the best-of-three series at 6:30 p.m. with Game. 2 set at 6:30 on Friday and if necessary, at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
“Koa has a good work ethic,” Hahnville’s fourth-year head coach Jared Vial said. “He has a great mindset and knows what he wants to do. He knew the goals he wanted to achieve. He’s definitely a dude that’s put himself in a position to be successful.”
Hahnville’s pitching staff has benefited from Romero’s return to 100% health on the mound after being slowed in 2025 from a football-related shoulder injury. He’s anchored this year’s staff, but his biggest contribution to this year’s team, a winner of 18 straight games, has been his emergence behind the plate to help slow down opponents’ running game.
“I was kind of happy when they asked me to catch,” said Romero, an LSU commitment. “That’s the reason I like pitching the most because I’m in every play. When you’re at catcher, you have to be ready for every single play. I was kind of excited when he asked me to do it.”
Vial’s a graduate of Hahnville High and familiar with the Romero family because Alex Romero, Koa’s father, was an assistant football coach for the Tigers.
When Koa’s athletic journey began through youth baseball, Vial was a fan in the stands.
“I’ve been watching him since he was five or six years old,” he said. “We’ve watched Koa since he was born.”
Football in the family’s yard was Koa’s first passion, but it was a game he didn’t play competitively at his mother’s insistence, he said.
He picked up football again in the sixth grade, bypassed his seventh-grade year, and played football between the eighth grade and his sophomore season with the Tigers.
Romero loved contact, the ability to deliver a blow and that aggressiveness is what made him a prototypical middle linebacker. He also played tight end.
“I just went out and had fun,” he said. “I love hitting people. That’s why I’m good at it. I want to hit people, but it’s kind of been baseball my whole life.”
Romero arrived at Hahnville High the same time as fellow freshmen Kaleb Guarisco and Landen Teague, a trio that’s gone on to start every baseball game in their careers.
That trend’s continued where they’ve become the foundation of the Tigers’ success.
“They were a big three,” Vial said.
Romero was utilized in right field and somewhat at designated hitter, helping Hahnville to the first round of the state playoffs against Neville.
Vial moved Romero to third base in 2025 where he also pitched. He was named the New Orleans Advocate’sPlayer of the Year, batting .484 with a .925 slugging percentage, 11 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs, and 31 RBIs.
Romero also maintained a 2.60 earned run average and was selected to the Class 5A All-State honorable mention squad. Ruston knocked Hahnville out in the first round of the postseason.
Romero opted to sit out the football season in 2025 when a shoulder injury – a slight tear in his labrum/rotator cuff – had sidelined him from pitching late into the regular season.
Now with a college commitment to his dream school, Romero will entertain a decision whether to play football as a senior.
“I try not to think about it as much and not put pressure on myself,” Romero said. “When the time comes to make a decision, it will definitely be a tough one. Now my arm feels as good as new.”
College coaches had begun taking an interest in Romero’s massive ability to hit and hit for power. He landed offers from LSU, Alabama, Auburn, and Southern Mississippi, setting visits to each school in September with LSU leading off.
Initially, he planned to make stops at each school but altered those options after visiting LSU and committing on Sept. 6.
“I was going to go on more visits,” Romero said. “LSU just felt like home, and I didn’t want to go anywhere else. It’s been LSU my whole life. I’ve been going to LSU football and baseball games my whole life. It’s amazing.
“I had a meeting with (LSU) coach (Jay) Johnson at the end of the visit I committed on the spot,” said Romero, a member of the Mississippi-based East Coast Sox travel team. “I’m very blessed. I’m blessed to have the opportunity.”
Romero, a projected second or third baseman at LSU, acknowledges the work that remains ahead before signing with LSU in November.
“It’s nice to be committed but at the same time it probably puts more pressure on you because you can’t slack,” he said. “You’ve got to put in more work.”
The first nine games of Hahnville’s season didn’t paint a clear path to postseason play.
The Tigers won their first four games before consecutive losses to Dutchtown resulted in a five-game losing streak that included setbacks to Ruston, Neville, and University High.
Vial noticed a correlation in the team’s decline after their undefeated start.
“We had given up 54 stolen bases nine games into the season,” he said. “Our biggest need was being able to shut down the running game. … to have a presence back there. We met and figured out a plan.”
Romero, the team’s ace on the mound and third baseman, became that missing piece, donning catching gear when he wasn’t on the mound.
The Tigers have won 24 of 25 games and have not tasted defeat since March 6 – an 8-7 road loss to Brother Martin, the Division I select No. 1 seed.
“That was a concern at the beginning,” Vital said of Romero having to handle the demands on the catching position with his pitching load. “We trust him. He knows not to put himself in harm’s way. It’s a chance to have your best player affect the game. With the type of player he is, we just trust he’s going to be smart and hurt himself.”
Romero said there was a lesson learned in the defeat to Brother Martin that has benefited the team.
“We came back and lost by a run,” he said. “Since then, if we’re down or leading, we keep competing until the game’s over. We never feel like we’re out of it.”
Hahnville’s enjoyed eight mercy-rule wins, seven of its eight shutouts, three one-run wins, and a pair of two-run victories during its red-hot stretch this past month-and-a-half.
With Guarisco (.404, 7 HRs, 39 RBIs) and Teague (.473. 4 HRs, 35 RBIs) hitting second and fourth, respectively, Romero’s flourished hitting third in the team’s batting order.
“We found that people would walk him in the 4-hole,” Vial said. “We wedged him between Teague and Varisco. It kind of protects him a little bit. Moving him to the 3-hole has safeguarded him a bit and with the year Landen’s having, it’s kind of pick your poison.”
Romero trails Teague in hitting with a .432 average but is Hahnville’s leader with eight homers and 39 RBIs. He’s also walked 26 times, scored 22 runs, and has seven stolen bases.
“Since he made the change, everything’s been going good,” Romero said. “My main goal is to either score the first two people or get on for Landen. What I’ve kind of had to learn this year is how I’ve got to be selective and take what I can get. If I get walked, I get walked. If I get pitched to, I try to do damage to it.”
What Vial also admired from Romero has been his command of the team.
Leadership was a strong characteristic two years ago when graduation resulted in the loss of two of the team’s top voices.
“We had to go through last year wondering who was going to step up,” he said. “We lost two alpha leaders from that team. He’s done a good job this year, being that presence for us. Vocally, he’s kind of come into his own a little bit. Moreso leads by his action and how he handles himself every day. We challenged him this year.”
Romero’s role as the team’s ace, the ability to limit the opposition, has been a key in Hahnville’s success which resulted in an undefeated run to the District 8-5A championship.
His 4-2 record and 1.37 ERA were good indicators that he had sufficiently recovered from the shoulder injury he sustained in football in ’24.
The coaching staff has done a great job of managing Romero’s workload on the mound with 30.2 innings this season. He’s walked 13 and struck out 57.
“My arm’s been fine the whole season,” said Romero, who’s limited opponents to a .143 batting average. “It’s good to have this week off to kind of recover.”
The bigger the game, the better Romero pitched. In an 8-0 League wins over Thibodaux, he threw a one-hit shutout with one walk and 10 strikeouts in six innings.
When Hahnville traveled to St. Charles Parish rival Destrehan, which was on an eight-game winning streak, Romero delivered an absolute gem.
Romero had a no-hitter going into the seventh when Destrehan collected its first hit, trailing 1-0. Romero, who neared his pitch limit with 113 pitches, walked four and struck out 12, including coming back from a 2-1 count to fan the final batter with the tying run at third base for the third consecutive inning for the one-run triumph.
Hahnville finished with a 6-0 mark to win the district followed by Destrehan (5-1) and Central Lafourche (4-2). Romero figured prominently in the Tigers’ 5-4 win over the Wildcats two days after Romero’s sterling pitching effort, going 3-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBIs.
“It meant a lot,” said Romero, who opened the season Feb. 9 with a 1-0 win over Archbishop Rummel with a game-winning homer to go with 15 strikeouts. “Winning district is good, but it’s not what we’re really in for. Winning a big game like that means a lot to everyone. It was a good win for us.”
Vial understands the magnitude of a Hahnville-Destrehan matchup in any sport.
“That’s the game that everyone in this parish puts on their calendar,” he said. “He’s been playing against those dudes his whole life. The kids are really close to each other in the parish. It’s a big game but he’s been facing those guys since he was 8. He handled it well and there’s nobody I would rather give the ball to.
“He labored toward the end,” he said of Romero. “He was at 70-something pitches in the sixth inning. They battled him in the last two innings. They didn’t lay down and made him work for it. That was a good game for him.”
Romero will undoubtedly get the ball with the hopes of giving Hahnville the lead in its series with Northshore, which has won its last 11 straight games.
“Since the beginning of fall we knew we were going to have a good team coming back,” Romero said. “We had people that contributed last year, kind of bunch of young kids. This is kind of what we expected coming in. This year the vibe feels different. The vibe’s different in the dugout. This year we’re trying to go for it all.”