Parish softball players make All-District 7-1A

With the high-school softball season in the rearview mirror, players from across the state are being named to all-district teams.

That includes District 7-1A. Both Ascension Catholic and Ascension Christian placed numerous players on this squad. In fact, the two schools combined to place 15 standouts on the team.

Ascension Catholic had the most All-District 7-1A softball selections in the parish. Nine Lady Bulldogs made the cut.

Ascension Catholic is fresh off of playing its first season under new head coach Katie Crowe.

Facing a very challenging schedule, the Lady Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 14-15 record. All but two of the 15 losses came against upper-classification teams.

The Lady Bulldogs were the District 7-1A runners-up. Ascension Catholic earned the No. 13 seeding in the Division-IV playoffs.

The Lady Bulldogs played the district champion in the first round, traveling to fourth-seeded St. John.

The Lady Eagles beat the Lady Bulldogs during the regular season, and they duplicated that in round one of the playoffs. St. John ended Ascension Catholic’s season with a 10-2 victory.

Lady Bulldog freshman second-baseman Ava Bright made the all-district first team after hitting an exceptional .571. Fellow freshman Aubrey Delatte also made the first team at short stop after batting a superb .500.

Also making the first team were freshman first-baseman Bailee Simoneaux (.333) and junior third-baseman Raegan Tripode (.429).

Three Lady Bulldogs made the second team. They were sophomore outfielder Sarah Pizzolato, sophomore pitcher and designated hitter Camryn Castrogovannie and freshman outfielder Sydney Viallon.

Honorable-mention selections were senior Charlee Griffin and freshman Ava Kate Ourso.

Ascension Christian had a bit of a rebuilding project under first-year head coach Dustin Bagwell. The Lady Lions had to replace a multitude of starters who led the program to its first-ever state tournament appearance last season.

Ascension Christian lost last year’s district MVP Maddie Gautreau, along with four other first-team all-district seniors in Layla Thompson, Hallie Dupre, Michelle Juban and Skye Fontenot.

The Lady Lions also lost Harper Dupre, who transferred to Dutchtown.

Ascension Christian went 7-11 during the regular season, with all but three losses coming against upper-classification teams.

Ascension Christian made the Division-IV playoffs as the No. 15 seed.

In round one, the Lady Lions visited second-seeded Calvary Baptist (21-10). The Lady Lions’ season ended with an emphatic defeat.

Six Ascension Christian players were named all-district, including three on the first team.

Sophomore pitcher Noelle Laiche was a first-team selection after hitting .400. She was joined on the first unit by senior first-baseman Christiona Raven (.300) and sophomore short stop Mattie Dixon (.286).

Making the second team were sophomore outfielder Lauren Swanson, junior catcher Emma Guy and seventh-grade utility player Cara Waguespack.

The District 7-1A Coach of the Year was St. John’s Cynthia Prouty. The district’s Player of the Year was Lady Eagle pitcher Kynleigh Rhymer.

Rhymer was 15-4 from the circle, with a 1.70 ERA. From the plate, she hit .548 with 26 RBIs.

In addition to winning the district, St. John made a run to the state semifinals, before losing a 1-0 contest to top-seeded Opelousas Catholic.