The 2023 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, our staff is excited for the upcoming spring season.  Players and coaches have been working all fall and through December, in preparation for the upcoming season and as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Louisiana.

Programs across the state have goals and aspirations to finish the year in Sulphur, LA at the LHSAA State Tournament, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes a reality.  We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams and players across the state, as we preview many of the great programs from Louisiana.  We will take you right up to the first pitch of this season with these team previews and we'll continue providing coverage throughout the spring. 

Please keep checking back throughout the season, as we strive to be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across Louisiana.  Each week we will release our players of the week, as well as our Power 25 Rankings, which encompasses the top 25 teams in the state, regardless of class.  

*Please note that all information is based on team preview questionnaires that were sent out and returned by the participating high school coaches.  If you did not receive a questionnaire and would like to fill one out, please send an email to [email protected].

-High School Name: St. Amant High School

-Coach’s Name: Brandon Bravata

-Classification: Class 5A (Non-Select Division I)

-District: 5-5A

-No. of Returning Positional Starters: 4

-No. of Returning Pitchers: 1

-Team Strengths: Pitching Depth

-Top Returning Players: 2023 RHP Dallis Moran (Nicholls State University signee), 2023 3B Blaise Lalonde, 2023 C Connor Molaison, 2024 SS Ryder Molea, 2024 OF Layne Swanson

-Top 2023 Prospects: 2023 RHP Dallis Moran (Nicholls State University signee), 2023 3B Blaise Lalonde, 2023 C Connor Molaison, 2024 RHP Dayton Stewart

-Top 2024 Prospects: 2024 SS Ryder Molea, 2024 OF Layne Swanson, 2024 RHP/1B Lawson Bourgeois, 2024 RHP/3B Austin Rylee, 2024 OF/LHP Wyatt Ford, 2024 UTIL Chase Kelley

-Top 2025 & 2026 Prospects: 2025 OF Mason Leblanc, 2026 INF Parker Guidry

 

 

Team Outlook

St. Amant finished the 2022 regular season with a 34-8 overall record and finished as the state runner-up to Class 5A state champion West Monroe.  The ride to the finals for the Gators was an exciting one last season, as they entered the playoffs as the #8 seed and after moving through the first two rounds, they entered the quarterfinal round, on the road, facing perennial power Barbe High School.  St. Amant ended up beating the Bucs in the three game series to move on to the state tournament, where they erased a 6-0 deficit, to defeat Sulphur to move on to the finals.  Head Coach Brandon Bravata will have to replace 5 position players and a total of 6 guys who have moved on to play collegiately in: Lee Amedee (University of Louisiana), Cole Poirrier (Nicholls State), Brayden Billingsley (LSU-Shreveport), Ashtyn Ellis (Nunez CC), Jacob Mayers (Nicholls State), and Brayden Kuriger (Nicholls State).  The lone returning pitcher for the Gators is senior RHP Dallis Moran.  The Nicholls State signee went 9-4 last season with a 1.24 ERA and punched out 100 guys over 73 2/3 IP in 2022.  Moran is super competitive and has FB up to 90 mph, to go along with a solid CB, SL, and CH.  Junior Lawson Bourgeois is a bid-bodied RHP with a mid-upper 80's FB that should log quality innings this spring, as well as a host of other guys such as: senior Dayton Stewart, and juniors Layne Swanson, Wyatt Ford, and Austin Rylee.  Offensively, even though St. Amant lost some key contributors, they still bring four guys who started last season.  Senior 3B Blaise Lalonde came up with a lot of big hits last season and finished hitting .336 with 30 RBI.  Behind the plate, the Gators also return senior Connor Molaison, who started 38 games last season at catcher and finished the season with 22 RBI.  Junior Ryder Molea also returns at the key shortstop position and was a solid, steady, and reliable defender in 2022.  Molea also hit .289 with HR, 5 2B, and 2 3B.  In the outfield, junior Layne Swanson also returns, after catching fire late in the 2022 season.  Another good looking young prospect with a smooth left-handed swing, to keep an eye on, is sophomore Mason Leblanc, who was a member of our 2021 Jr. Future Games Team.  Swanson finished last season hitting .393 with 11 RBI.  2023 presents a new district for Coach Bravata and the Gators as well, as they'll now be competing in a tough District 5-5A, that includes the likes of Denham Springs, Dutchtown, Live Oak, East. Ascension, and Walker.  The St. Amant program, however, has always been known as a blue-collar program with tough, hard nosed players, and they proved that last season.  The Gators do have to replace quite a bit, especially on the mound, but they do return a sure-fire #1 starter in Moran with plenty of other talented arms and offensively, they return a few players at key positions up the middle of the field.  We expect St. Amant to battle through some adversity early on and to be playing their best baseball at the end of the season, with the opportunity to make another magical run like they did in 2022.  

 

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