May 7, 2005

In the Batter's Box

with Eric LeBlanc

Four years

As I was covering the Hahnville-West Jefferson baseball game on Thursday, my mind drifted off to the fact that my fourth year of covering St. Charles Parish sports is coming to a close. And with it, close the high school careers of all of the student athletes who were freshmen my first year at the Herald-Guide.

Two of the most prominent were featured on the mound in each of the playoff games this past week: Beau Jones and Jordan Brown. I remember Jones starting out as a relief pitcher as a freshman, coming into games to close them out or hold them down. Then when it was realized what a talent he was, he joined the starting rotation and has been the Wildcats' number one or number two starter ever since. Brown began his freshman year as a number three starter and reliever and ends it this year as the Tigers' ace and the metro area's leader in ERA.

And while the other senior members of the Tigers and Wildcats have had great amounts of success, it is Brown and Jones who stand out because to me, covering the teams the past four years, they have always been prominent members of each team. In those years, there has seldom been a Destrehan or Hahnville baseball article that I have written that has not included the names Jordan Brown or Beau Jones.

The same rings true in other sports. In volleyball, there is Hahnville's Sasha Leech who started her career across the river at Destrehan and ended up as the Lady Tigers' setter for two seasons.

In softball, there is Hahnville's Karla Troxler who started out as a speedster who pinch hit and spot started, but then developed into the best leadoff hitter in the district.

In boys basketball, there is Trey Montgomery who as a freshman, was a substitute with height who later became the MVP of the parish this season.

In girls basketball, there are several four-year faces that have departed this year. For the Lady Cats, Amber Eugene and Brittany Clark were important pieces of their success in each of the last four seasons. Eugene started out as a good-shooting guard who was a good compliment to Ashley Sentimore and Meagan Stock and ended up as the star of the show, signing with Southern Miss. Clark was the sparkplug for the Lady Cats the past four years, and especially in their Sweet 16 season three years ago. For Hahnville, there are four girls who have been an important part of Lady Tiger basketball for the past four years. From former Player of the Future Award winners Marquita Hill and Whitney Scott to Jazzlyn Young and Kaswana Isaac they played in the first basketball game I ever covered at the Herald-Guide.

In soccer, Jennifer and Jessica Madere and Brianne Childress stand out in my mind among the Hahnville girls from that first season. And from Destrehan, Valerie Delatte has played with the same great intensity that she had in the 2001-2002 season. And among the boys, Kyle Tizzard’s throw-ins that were launched, not thrown will stick with me.

And finally, there is football, where freshmen rarely make it to starting positions. But I remember Hahnville quarterback Bryant Lee taking a few snaps in 2001 behind Nick Cannon. Now Lee will be playing for the Southern Jaguars next year.

Now that these names will no longer appear in stories that I write about Destrehan and Hahnville sports, it brings about a certain amount of sadness. As a sports writer covering just two schools, you join with each team’s emotions in the ups and downs. You feel for the kids when you’ve driven six hours to Monroe, two hours to Walker or three hours to New Iberia and they are eliminated from the playoffs. You join in their joy when they win a state championship or win district. And you hope that you may have made an impact in these kids’ lives. By seeing their name in an article, seeing their picture featured on the front page or by giving them a parish award you hope that you have given them something to be proud of. You hope that you have impacted them in some way.

So congratulations ‘Class of 2005,’ the first student-athlete class that I covered from freshmen to seniors. But from now on, each class that goes through will be a class that I’ve been able to follow all the way through.

Eric LeBlanc will return to his regularly scheduled baseball writing next week when the nostalgia has gone out of his head. Until then, he can be reminisced at (985) 758-2795 or by e-mail at EricL@heraldguide.com.