Parish’s best coaching performances in 2021-22

The high-school athletic year is long gone, and it was a memorable one for Ascension Parish as multiple teams won state championships and many others competed for state titles.

Over the past month, the Weekly Citizen has highlighted some of the best athletes and teams in Ascension over the past athletic year. In this article, we will now celebrate the accomplishments of some of the parish’s best coaches.

Here are some of the Ascension coaches who had the most success in 2021-22:

One of the parish head coaches who won a state championship this year was St. Amant’s Amy Pitre. Pitre led the Gator softball program to its seventh state title.

St. Amant won the District 5-5A championship and reeled off 29 straight victories to end the year. The Lady Gators outscored their opponents, 53-3, in the playoffs. That included a 10-0 win over West Monroe in the Class 5A title game.

The Lady Gators ranked fourth nationally by MaxPreps.

This was the second state championship St. Amant has won in the past four years. Both were won under Pitre.

In his first season as the Ascension Catholic boy’s powerlifting head coach, Delmond Landry led the Bulldogs to a state championship for the first time since 1991. The Bulldogs took home the Division-V state title by edging out Sacred Heart-Ville Platte.

Casey Mays and Devin Pedescleaux each won individual state championships.

St. Amant head baseball coach Brandon Bravata led the Gators to their first state championship appearance since 2004.

In Bravata’s second full season with the Gators, St. Amant went 28-6 and made an improbable run in the playoffs that included upsets over Barbe and Sulphur.

St. Amant took a 6-0 lead over West Monroe in the 5A title game, but the Gators eventually settled for state runner-up honors after a 9-6 loss to the Rebels.

Dutchtown boy’s soccer head coach Marcus Dyer led the Griffins to their first-ever state title appearance.

Dutchtown won the district championship this past season and then pulled off upsets over Brother Martin, Jesuit and St. Paul’s in the playoffs.

In the Division-I title game, Dutchtown dropped a close 1-0 contest against defending champion Catholic, earning the Griffins state runner-up honors.

Dutchtown girl’s soccer head coach Jared Moss led the Lady Griffins to the state semifinals for the first time since 2007.

Dutchtown had a strong first year under Moss, finishing 15-5-1 during the regular season and capturing the district title.

Dutchtown head baseball coach Chris Schexnayder led the Griffins to the state tournament for the first time since 2010.

Dutchtown went 30-3 during the regular season and won the outright District 5-5A championship for the first time since 2013.

The Griffins reached the state semifinals, where they lost a 6-5 contest to eventual champion West Monroe.

Donaldsonville boy’s basketball head coach Lionel Gilbert led the Tigers to the state semifinals for the first time since 2014.

Donaldsonville went 27-4 during the regular season and won the District 9-3A title. 

In the semifinals, the Tigers fell to eventual champion, Madison Prep.

Dutchtown girl’s bowling head coach Corey Ledet led the Lady Griffins to the state semifinals. The Lady Griffins fell to eventual state champion Denham Springs.

East Ascension head wrestling coach Patrick Mahoney led the Spartans to a fifth-place finish at the state meet, which was the best finish of any public school. They were led by state runner-up Santos Ramos.

Dutchtown head volleyball coach Patrick Ricks led the Lady Griffins to the state tournament for a third straight season.

Dutchtown went 30-7 during the regular season and won its first outright district title since 2004. It was also the Lady Griffins’ first-ever undefeated finish in district play.