Tom Dodge
Editor’s Note: This is the final edition of the three story series looking back at the 2019-2020 sports seasons.
Things were looking great for the local teams involved in spring sports until the coronavirus pandemic arrived and forced the cancellation of the seasons.
St. Edmund softball opened strong with a 21-6 win over Oakdale, sparked by a 4-for-4 performance by Anna Chapman who had four RBIs and three runs scored.
Chapman also had a two-RBI double and a home run in the jamboree to earn Eunice News Player of the Week honors.
The Lady Jays followed with a 6-3 road win over Port Barre, led by pitcher Karleigh Soileau who struck out 13 batters, walked three and allowed four hits.
St. Edmund improved to 5-0 with three wins in the Oakdale tournament with victories over South Beauregard (12-10), Elizabeth (5-1) and Oakdale (12-5).
The Lady Jays then cruised to a 13-0 win over St. Martinville, led by Karleigh Soileau’s 10 strikeout performance.
Soileau also struck out 13 batters in the Lady Jays’ win over Elizabeth to help her earn Eunice News Player of the Week honors.
The Lady Jays remained undefeated after three wins at the Acadiana High tournament.
St. Edmund senior catcher Kinsley Marcantel had a strong performance at the tournament.
In the 20-7 win over Centerville, Marcantel went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, three runs scored and three RBI.
In St. Ed’s 17-0 victory over St. Scholalista, she went 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, two RBI and a run scored.
In the Lady Jays’ 18-8 win over Lacassine, Marcantel finished 4-for-4 with a triple, a double, five RBI and a run scored.
For her efforts, Marcantel earned the Eunice News Player of the Week honors.
St. Edmund’s only loss of the season was a 2-1 heartbreaker against Port Barre.
The Lady Jays recovered with a 16-0 romp over LaGrange as Karleigh Soileau struck out 13 batters and scattered two hits over five innings.
In what turned out to be their final game of the season, St. Edmund (11-1) cruised to a 13-0 win over Welsh.
Seniors Marcantel, Jaedyn Soileau and Katelyn LaCour were honored after the game.
Eunice opened the softball season with a one-sided losses to Beau Chene and Pitkin, but the Lady Cats then earned two wins in the Oakdale tournament.
In the 7-4 win over South Beauregard, pitcher Jailyn Pavich earned the complete game win as she two runs on six hits with one walk.
In the 7-0 shut out win over South Cameron, Lady Cat pitcher Caroline Vienne struck out seven and scattered three hits.
After losses to North DeSoto and Port Barre, the Lady Cats closed the Alexandria tournament with an 8-4 win over Converse.
Vienne earned the win as she struck out seven and also went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
The Lady Cats (4-5, 1-1) fell to North Vermilion in the district opener but closed the season with a 15-0 romp over LaGrange.
Vienne again earned the win as she struck out four and scattered two hits over three innings.
The Lady Cats’ four seniors were Jalon Ned, Alina Darbonne, Jesslyn Reed and Eliana Papion.
The Iota Lady Bulldogs has a strong run with an 11-1 record, suffering their only loss to Loreauville (8-7) in the Acadiana High tournament.
Church Point finished the year with a 9-3 record, including a seven-game winning streak heading into District 3-A competition.
The Mamou Lady Demons finished the year with a 4-3 record including three straight wins before the cancellation.
The Eunice High Bobcats opened the season with a 9-5 win over Jennings as Grant Fontenot struck out 12, walked three and allowed four hits over six innings.
Eunice split games in the Westlake tournament as the Bobcats grabbed an 18-3 win over Merryville before falling 8-7 to DeQuincy.
At the Trey Altick Memorial Class, Eunice earned wins over Haughton (6-2) and Pineville (15-4) before closing the tourney with losses to West Ouachita and Jena.
The Bobcats final win of the shortened season was a 14-1 win over Port Barre.
Price Myers earned the win as he allowed one hit with five strikeouts and one walk.
Alex Young went 2-for-2 with a walk, a RBI and three runs scored.
EHS closed the year with a loss to Southside as the Bobcats’ annual tournament and baseball season was halted.
The Bobcats’ three seniors were Caiden Burson, Grant Fontenot and Alex Young.
After a 0-4 start, the St. Edmund Blue Jays grabbed their first vitory in a 6-2 win over Bunkie in the Rosepine tournament.
Daven Benoit earned the win as he allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings, striking out three with two walks.
The Blue Jays fell to Rosepine but rebounded with an 8-6 win over Mamou.
Benoit earned another win as he allowed 10 hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
In what turned out to the final weekend the season, St. Ed’s earned tournament wins over Lafayette Christian Academy (6-3) and Northside Christian (14-4) before a 6-2 loss to Breaux Bridge.
The St. Edmund seniors were Will Turk, Peyton Marcantel, Josh Landry, Jack Parks, Bryce Vidrine, Hayden Smith and Alex Dupre.
Iota finished the shortened baseball season with a 4-5 record and Mamou closed at 2-5 overall.
The track season was brief as the local schools were only able to compete in one meet.
The Bobcats and Lady Cats both won to sweep the 2020 Eunice Invitational season opening track meet.
The Lady Cats won the meet scoring 189 points, followed by Iota’s 106 points.
Lachelle Edwards won the triple jump with a leap of 29-6 1/2.
Madison Freeman won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 56.78.
Lady Cat Katherine Rougeau won the javelin competition with a toss of 105-9.
Nahriah Jones won the long jump (14-5).
Jesslyn Reed, Leah Walker, Shaynia Toussaint and Zakayla Citizen captured the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 1:52.03.
Aamyah Hanchett, Rougeau, Andajihi Savoy and Destiny Guy won the 4x800 meter relay with a 13:17.00.
J’lisa Thibeau won the shot put (30-7)).
Kimberly Boullard captured the discus battle with a toss of 91-22.
In the boys competition, The Bobcats scored 129 points to edge past Jennings’ 119 points.
Keovondray Savoy won the discus with a throw of 102-2, while Joseph Anderson captured the high jump at 6-4.
Jacoby Collins won the 200 meters with a time of 23.85.
Joseph Anderson, Clarence Arceneaux, Tyshawn Joseph and Rondraylon Mitchell won the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:51.97.
The EHS track seniors were Rougeau, Andrayia White, Boullard, Taylor Lewis, Edwards, Felicity Carrier, Toussaint, Walker and Jesslyn Reed.
For St. Edmund, senior Katherine Sittig placed first in the 100 meter hurdles at the Basile meet and was second in the high jump (5-0).
The tennis season was also shortened as both Eunice High and St. Edmund were only able to participate in a couple of matches.
Eunice went 4-1 with its only loss against Jennings.
The EHS seniors were Emily Gotreaux, Megan Fontenot, Ting Jiang, Deacon Richard, Caroline Andrus and Melodee Kennedy.
St. Edmund tennis went 3-0 overall including a a 10-1 romp over rival Sacred Heart of Ville Platte.
The St. Edmund seniors were Victoria Marcantel, Kennedy Fruge, Doug Summerlin, Ashley Bertrand, Brianna Bertrand and John Smith.
At LSU Eunice, the top-ranked baseball team was 21-0 and the Lady Bengals’ softball team was 12-11 when spring sports were stopped in March.