Louisiana Student-Athletes Named To MaxPreps Baseball/Softball All-America Teams
by Hunter Bower // GeauxPreps.com Owner
The accolades continue to roll in for Louisiana high school student-athletes as MaxPreps released its All-America teams for the sports of baseball and softball.
Barbe High School of Lake Charles claimed both individual honors for baseball as Jack Walker was named National Player of the Year while Glenn Cecchini was named the National Coach of the Year.
As a senior, Walker led the Bucs to the No. 1 ranking in the nation by going 13-0 with a 0.42 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 83.2 innings. He also had three no-hitters, including a 10-inning game against Sam Houston in the Class 5A state semifinals. Walker, named Mr. Baseball by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, also earned first-team, All-America honors from MaxPreps.
Cecchini’s resume is impeccable and keeps getting more impressive. In addition to winning his 11th state championship, he also won his second national title. Cecchini’s team, along with other teams in Southwest Louisiana, suffered through a pair of hurricanes during the course of the past school year while also dealing with COVID and the uncertainty of a star pitcher, who was returning from an arm injury.
Haughton’s Peyton Stovall was also named to the first-team squad. One of the top quarterbacks in Louisiana, Stovall bypassed football season due to the uncertainty of COVID and focused on baseball instead. He’s expected to be drafted in the early rounds after batting .489 with seven doubles, 51 runs, 39 RBI and 12 home runs.
The honors did not stop there as the high school softball All-America team was littered with several Louisiana athletes.
Njayh Fontenot, an Arkansas commit, was named to the first-team for Barbe. Fontenot has a powerful bat (11 home runs), speed on the bases (31 stolen bases) and a great glove in the outfield.
Papillon, a junior, was a two-way star for the Lady Bucs, leading the team to a 31-2 season with a 1.49 ERA and 192 strikeouts in 131 innings pitched the circle while batting .406 with nine home runs.
Notre Dame’s Maci Bergeron joins the two as a first-team, All-American selection after a great season. She finished with a .571 batting average, a team high 30 home runs, 78 RBIs and only four strikeouts as well as a 6-0 record in the circle in 36.1 innings with a 0.38 ERA and 47 strikeouts.