War Eagles' Curry, Whittington headline District 9-1A team

St. John the Evangelist High School won the District 9-1A title and advanced to the LHSAA Class 1A State Baseball Tournament for first time in a decade.

Senior shortstop Trevor Curry was selected District MVP and Heath Whittington was selected Coach of the Year recently.

The War Eagles finished 28-6 overall and were 9-1 in district play. St. John advanced to the Class 1A semifinals over Christian Life, St. Frederick's and Westminster Christian before falling to eventual state champion Mangham. It was the furthest St. John has advanced in the postseason since finishing runners-up in 2003.

St. John had a total of seven players selected to the first-team.

Joining Curry on the first-team from St. John were senior infielder Morgan Booksh, senior utility player Seth Gulotta, senior outfielder Colby Landry, junior pitcher Hunter Schnebelen, junior infielder Christopher Patin and sophomore outfielder Brandon Noel.

Selected to the second team from St. John were junior catcher Jacob Maranto, junior outfielder Mason LeBlanc, sophomore pitcher Rene Ledet and sophomore utility player Jacob Caballero.

White Castle junior outfielder Robert Franklin, junior pitcher Brandon Foster and freshmen infielder Dontrell Taylor were joined on the second team by East Iberville senior infielder B.J. Lennard and sophomore utility player A.J. Burba.

The Bulldogs, under coach Corey MaGee, finished 6-17 overall and were 2-8 in district play. The Tigers, under coach Ron Allen, were 1-19 overall and 0-10 in district.

St. John junior infielder Justin Maranto was selected honorable mention.

Curry, a Southeastern Louisiana University signee, batted .489 this season with 53 RBIs, 44 runs, 10 home runs, seven triples, four doubles and 19 stolen bases. The shortstop also posted a .890 fielding percentage over 181 innings with three double plays and 79 putouts.

Booksh batted .303 with 36 RBIs, 34 runs, five doubles, three triples, one home run and nine stolen bases. He also registered seven saves as the Eagles' closer posting a 2-1 record and 1.04 ERA while striking out 20 over 27 innings pitched.

Schnebelen was 8-1 on the hill this season striking out 53 over 66 innings and posting a 1.59 ERA. An outfielder as well, he also batted .246 with 23 RBIs, 25 runs, two triples and 10 stolen bases.

Noel batted .378 with 32 RBIs, 16 runs, four doubles, three triples and 22 stolen bases. He also was 7-1 on the mound with a 2.75 ERA and struck out 52 over 35 2/3 innings.

First baseman Gulotta batted .318 with 31 RBIs, 23 runs, two double and home runs and nine stolen bases. He also was 4-1 on the bump with a 2.15 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.

Third baseman Patin hit .365 with 22 RBIs, 27 runs, two doubles and eight stolen bases. Landry batted .287 with 20 RBIs, 40 runs, one double and triple and 13 stolen bases.

Ledet posted a 4-2 record with a 2.62 ERA while striking out 29 over 32 innings pitched. He also batted .258 with 16 RBIs, 15 runs, one double and five stolen bases.

Maranto batted .278 with 21 RBIs, eight runs, three triples and one home run. He also caught 2-of-4 stealing over 204 innings behind the plate.

Caballero batted .175 in district this season. LeBlanc hit .125 with seven RBIs and runs and two stolen bases this season.

Taylor batted .333 for White Castle while Franklin hit .272.

Burba hit .230 for East Iberville and Lennard batted .204.