Baton Rouge Area Weekly Notebook Presented By Trade Construction • May 4

by Jerit Roser // Capital Area High School Correspondent

Please let us know of any interesting news, student-athlete highlights, intriguing match-ups and more by visiting our Contact Us page.

A strong Baton Rouge contingent claimed a third of last week’s tennis state championships in Monroe.

Boys from Catholic High and Dunham and girls from St. Joseph’s won three of the eight team titles, with Capital Area athletes also winning four doubles crowns and one in singles competition.

Dunham standout Michael Dudley won 10 of his 11 sets to be the last man standing in the Division IV bracket.

And teammates Lethan Ngyuen and Evan Gleason rolled through doubles play without dropping a single set.

The Tigers scored 16 total points — more than second-place Christ Episcopal and third-place Episcopal of Acadiana combined — to win a third straight team title.

Catholic and St. Joseph’s meanwhile had to survive far more narrow margins to top their respective Division I ranks.

Ashton Ellis and Carson Chassiagnac won the doubles title to help lift the Bears past second place Brother Martin, 16-15.

Charles Fremaux finished singles play as runner-up.

And, on the girls’ side, Anne Guglielmo and Sophia Manuel won the doubles tournament to helped the Redstickers scratch past Mount Carmel by just a half point, 14.5 to 14.

Woodlawn’s doubles team of sisters Leah and Halle Medine won 10 of their 11 sets in Division II to lead the Panthers to a tennis championships believed to be the first in school history.

The University Lab girls finished second to Newman in Division III, behind a doubles runner-up performance by Mary Longmire and Maura Blanchfield.

And Parkview Baptist’s Madison Morris finished as runner-up in singles play.

Softball playoff struggles carry into state tournament

Sulphur was less kind to Baton Rouge area teams, who continued to suffer a difficult softball postseason.

Class B champion Holden, which brings a fourth straight back to Livingston Parish, was the only school in the 225 area code to win a title, as Catholic (Pointe Coupee), Ascension Christian, Doyle and French Settlement each fell short in the state tournament.

The season is the first since the LHSAA split the spot into 12 total brackets that at least three schools in the 225 area code hadn’t won.

St. Amant, Brusly and Catholic (Pointe Coupee) joined the Rockets in 2019, with Doyle and Parkview Baptist doing so in 2018 and Central (Baton Rouge) and Parkview Baptist in 2017.

Central (Baton Rouge) cap bowling seasons as runners-up

Baton Rouge sent six of the state’s eight semifinalists to last week’s bowling state championships.

But Brother Martin and Archbishop Chapelle survived those gauntlet to win the boys’ and girls’ titles, respectively.

Central (Baton Rouge) won semifinals in both brackets, but couldn’t topple those New Orleans area foes in the finals.

The Crusaders rolled past the Wildcats’ boys, 21.5-5.5, while the Chipmunks survived, 15-12, in girls action.

Record-setting Kenson Tate helps headline Class 5A track regional

Senior Kenson Tate matched the national-best long jump to help lead Zachary past host Catholic in the Class 5A, Region II meet.

His leap of 24 feet, 10 3/4 inches set a new stadium record, and the Broncos (135) topped the Bears (99), Scotlandville (70), St. Amant (59) and others.

Fellow multisport standout Chris Hilton, an LSU football signee, won the high jump (6-8) and 400 meter (47.74) among the other leaders, with Rhen Langley winning the 800 meters (1:57.82), 1600 meters (4:18.93) and 3200 meters (9:37.88).

Woodlawn’s Lanard Harris won the 110 meter hurdles (14.34) and 300 meter hurdles (37.92) and St. Amant’s Kevin Domino took the 100 meters (10.62) and 200 meters (21.38) among other multi-event winners.

St. Joseph’s edged the Lady Broncos, 134-132 to win the girls’ team title.

Sophie Martin and Madeline Gardiner finished first and second, respectively, in both the 1600 meters (5:13.10, 5:25.52) and 3200 meters (11:18.03, 11:50.79).

Rebecca Bordelon won the javelin (133-10), Riley Wilson the high jump (5-02) and Simone Castelluccio (38-05.50).

Zachary’s Jaydan Jackson won the shot put (41-06) and discus (123-03), and Dutchtown’s Ariane Linton won the 100 meters (11.79) and 200 meters (24.25).

Baton Rouge baseball teams provide trio of top-10 upsets 

Central, Central Private, Dutchtown and St. Michael each upended higher seeds last week to help the Baton Rouge area make some strong statements early in this spring’s baseball playoffs.

No. 12 Central survived its long trip to Ruston with a a 5-4 victory Sunday to take the series with the No. 5 Bearcats, 2-1, in Class 5A.

Next up for the Wildcats will be No. 4 Sam Houston.

Central Private advanced to the next round after providing an upset in three-games with No. 6 Central Catholic. The Redhawks, ranked 11th, lost the first game but came back to win the last two and take down the higher seed.

Central Private will now travel to Shreveport for a three-game, quarterfinal series with Calvary Baptist.

And No. 10 Dutchtown swept No. 7 Benton, 6-1 and 4-3, on an even longer road trip to advance to face No. 2 West Monroe.

No. 6 Walker joins that duo in the Class 5A quarterfinals after holding off No. 22 West Ouachita.

Those Wildcats will face No. 19 New Iberia.

No. 10 St. Michael swept No. 7 St. Thomas More in Division II action to advance to face No. 2 St. Louis Catholic this weekend at McNeese State.

The Warriors join top-seeded Parkview Baptist and No. 4 University Lab, who will play No. 8 E.D. White and No. 5 Teurlings Catholic, respectively.

No. 4 Catholic High, which enjoyed a bye last week, will face No. 12 St. Paul’s in Division I.

And No. 6 West Feliciana and No. 7 Brusly advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals to face No. 3 Lutcher and No. 2 South Beauregard, respectively, after sweeping through last week.

Make sure to check Geaux Preps’ Playoff Central for full postseason coverage.