As the calendar turns to June, prep sports go dormant, but those looking to check out some competition need not worry as the American Legion baseball season enters full swing. Destrehan’s Legion squad enters the summer looking to build off a prep season that saw the Wildcats go 24-10 and reach the second round of the Class 5A postseason.
The Wildcats bring back a strong pitching staff but do lose six seniors from last season’s starting lineup. As such a major focus for DHS coach Chris Mire this summer is to fill those vacated starting roles, including his starting catcher. Logan Mancuso and Bryce Rochelle are vying for that role, Mancuso last year’s backup at the position.
“Logan’s done a very good job behind the plate and he’s working on a few things,” Mire said. “Bryce is working extremely hard. He’s a smaller kid, but he’s making a push. It’s going to come down to who establishes more consistency and can handle what we need defensively from that position.”
Consistency is also something Mire wants to see a bit more of in terms of offensive production.
He said the Wildcats will have a similar approach to hitting this summer and next season, but that so me tweaks are being made to curb any kind of prolonged slumps.
“With the pitching staff we have coming back, we’re more about continuing to get guys on base and putting some pressure on the defense,” Mire said. “We don’t want to have these big swings that produce a lot of strikeouts, and we want to hopefully increase our walk total.”
P.J. Carmichael was a valuable reserve for the Wildcats last season, and Mire believes he can make a big impact as a starter.
“P.J. played a very important role for us last season, and so far he’s having very good at-bat’s consistently (this summer),” Mire said. “He’s a guy we’re counting on to fill the shoes of Jared Montz and he could be an impact player for us next year.”
Another returning player Mire is counting on is Brennan Cortez, who moved into the cleanup role late in the prep season.
“We really need him to produce,” Mire said. “We’ve been trying to fill the middle of that lineup and have some guys step up and give us some punch there.”
Gage Broussard is another that could provide a boost. Broussard was a starter for the Wildcats last season before being sidelined by injury.
“Some of our bigger bats are still not with us yet,” said Mire, noting a few players have had to fulfill prior commitments before joining the summer squad. “So that’s giving us a chance to try and identify a few more guys who can produce for us. We’re trying to get our young guys at-bats and getting them ready to play.”
The Wildcats starting rotation largely appears to be set, with Landon Marceaux, Bryce Scioneaux, Cortez and Nolan Lemoine all coming off strong years.
“In those guys we know what we have,” Mire said. “We’re trying to build some pitching depth behind them and maybe find a surprise starter.”
While Mire said an obvious goal anytime a team takes the field is to win games, the overall focus of the summer for the Wildcats is more driven toward development, evaluating position battles and setting the team up for greater success next season.
“It’s a matter of getting our guys as ready as possible for next season,” Mire said.
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