Barbe, Rosepine, Grand Lake take No. 1 seeds into postseason
Published 5:00 am Monday, April 25, 2022
- Barbe’s Crawford Courville makes the catch at the warning track for the out during a District 3-5A game on April 7. (Rick Hickman / American Press)
A trio of No. 1 seeds will lead Southwest Louisiana as the Louisiana High School Athletics Association baseball playoffs start today.
Barbe, Rosepine and Grand Lake all earned top billing when the LHSAA released the brackets Sunday afternoon.
It is the second time in three seasons that the area has produced three No. 1 seeds and 10 consecutive postseasons with at least one.
Barbe (32-2) , the defending Class 5A state champion, grabbed its third consecutive No. 1 seed and sixth in the last 11 seasons. The 11-time state champs have won 11 of their last 12 games plus the championship in District 3-5A that produced three top-10 seeds, including No. 4 Sulphur (27-7) and No. 7 Sam Houston (24-7).
The Bucs will host No. 32 Pineville today at 6:30 p.m.
Sam Houston has reached the state tournament four consecutive seasons, while Sulphur is looking to bounce back from last year’s first round loss to Parkway. The Broncos and Tors open the playoffs at home on Tuesday against No. 26 Lafayette and No. 29 Northshore respectively.
After winning its first state championship in program history, Class 2A No. 1 Rosepine (27-2) will go for a repeat trip to Sulphur.
The Eagles set a program record for wins in a season at 27 and ride a program record 23-game win streak into the playoffs.
Rosepine will host Northeast in the bi-district playoffs.
Grand Lake (19-6) is the top team in Class 1A for the second consecutive season, but is still after its first state championship.
The Hornets lost to Oak Grove 4-1 in the finals last season.
Grand Lake will host the winner out of No. 16 Centerville and No. 17 Block in the regional round.
The area produced a pair of No. 2 seeds in Iota (28-3) in Class 3A and defending Division II state champion St. Louis Catholic (19-12). The Saints host No. 15 Patrick Taylor-Science/Tech. starting on Thursday in a best-of-three series.
Other top eight seeds from Southwest La. include Class 3A No. 6 Iowa (19-12), and Class 2A No. 3 Kinder (18-9).
Kinder is looking for its fourth state championship and first since 2019, while Iowa is after its first since 2007.
