American Legion regionals up to the plate

The 2009 American Legion Southeast and Southwest Regional State Tournaments take place July 11-15 in Ponchatoula and Baton Rouge with four St. Tammany Parish teams participating. The double elimination regional tournaments feature eight teams each.

The Southeast Regional takes place at Athletic Park in Ponchatoula with the Southwest Regional being played at Baton Rouge’s Pete Goldsby Field.

Three St. Tammany Parish teams are participating in the Southeast Regional. Capital One Bank (Fontainebleau High), the East Division champion, a No. 1 seed with a 14-4 record, Laneco Construction (Pope John Paul II), No. 2 seed, sporting a 9-6 record and Post 16 (Archbishop Hannan) 6-13 overall. Capital ONe Bank takes on Nationwide Restoration (Archbishop Rummel) at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Capital One Bank features a number of solid hitters, registering a .315 team batting average with two batters, hitting over .400 with Klay Galloway (.476) and Logan Peterson (.440). Third baseman James Cousin (.326) tops the team with 17 runs batted in. Center fielder David Fiegel (.383) leads with 18 runs scored and has swiped a team-high 10 bases, while being caught just three times. Jacob Palmisano (.378) has knocked in seven runs with 11 runs scored. Addison Melancon (.356) has driven in seven runs and scored six times, while Ryan Casassa (.346) has driven in 10 runs and scored 10 times. First baseman Andrew Patin (.333) is second on the team with 12 runs batted in, while Anthony LaGuardia (.321) has knocked in eight runs with 16 runs scored.

Casassa (4-0) leads the Capital One pitching staff with a 0.78 earned run average. He has registered 31 strikeouts in 27 innings.

LaGuardia (3-1) has a 1.56 ERA. LaGuardia has notched 16 strikeouts in 18 innings of work. Shane Mullin (2-1) with three saves has a 1.67 ERA. Harrison Little (2-1) has a save to go with a 1.59 ERA. Little has recorded 25 strikeouts in 22 innings. Capital One’s team ERA is an effective 1.67. The winner takes on the winner of Retifoil (Jesuit) and Pevey Realtors (Ponchatoula) at 7 p.m. Sunday. The losers play Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

Laneco Construction enters the tournament having won five of its last six games. Laneco Construction opens the Southeast Regional tomorrow at 9 o’clock going against Time Saver (Archbishop Shaw). Laneco Construction coach Mark Homburg said he wants his squad to continue to get better.

“As a team, we’ve made a bunch of strides offensively, defensively and pitching,” Homburg said. “We want a better showing than we had last year (two losses). I’m looking for continued improvement. We’ve played better in all phases the last six games.”

Homburg said the team has been getting contributions from all of its players. Entering the competition, Zack Pohto has a .430 batting average and eight runs batted in. Alex Ramirez is hitting .306 with two home runs, both walk-offs, and 18 RBIs. Dustin Dampier has posted a .370 clip with 12 runs scored, while Blake Bonnaffons, who normally hits second, has a .320 average with 12 runs scored and seven RBIs. Leadoff man Ross Macaluso is batting .330 with 16 runs and has driven in seven. He has also stolen 18 bases in 19 attempts.

On the mound, Bobby Mayfield is 5-1 with a 1.73 earned run average. Mayfield has displayed good control with 34 strikeouts and just eight walks. Andre Damiens is 2-2 with a 1.98 ERA. He has 26 strikeouts and 12 walks. At the plate, Damiens has also helped his cause with a .360 batting average, two home runs and 16 RBIs.

The winner of this game and the American Legion Post 16 against Peake BMW will play at 4 p.m. Sunday, while the losers will compete at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Post 16 squares off with Peake BMW (Brother Martin) tomorrow at 4 o’clock. Post 16 coach Boomer Nunez said his club would need his pitchers to step up. Dylan Manichia (2-3) is scheduled to start in the opener. Nunez said Manichia would also be counted on for his bat and defense when playing shortstop.

Catcher Logan Booksh, a solid defensive player, will handle the pitching staff and will also see time on the mound. Booksh will have to come through at the plate, batting in the number three hole. Nunez said a number of players would have to step up for them to be successful.

“Dylan (Manichia) and Logan (Booksh) will be counted on to provide the offensive punch. We need to step up our team defensively,” Nunez said.

“With the nine inning format, everybody will have to do their part on the mound. Our pitchers will have to throw strikes to help keep us in games,” Nunez added.

Nunez said leadoff hitter and centerfielder Andrew Arceneaux along with Ben Condon, Christian Clark and Joey LaRocca would see time on the mound with whoever else it would take to get the job done.

Pevey Realtors (Ponchatoula High), the host team and the American Legion Sixth District East West Division champion, a No. 1 seed takes a 13-9 record into the Regional coming off a 10-0 five-inning victory over Post 16 on Tuesday at home. In that game, Elisha Settoon (3-2 with three saves) and Darrin Bach combined on a four-hitter. Pevey pounded out 12 hits led by shortstop Dylan Hills, who went 3-4 with three runs batted in and scored twice, while first baseman Kaleb Kraft went 3-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Pevey Realtors battle Retif Oil (Jesuit) tomorrow night at 7.

Shifting locations, the Southwest Regional takes place on Baton Rouge’s Pete Goldsby Field.

Anytime Fitness (Pearl River High) opens the Southwest Regional at 9:30 tomorrow morning taking on Plaquemine Post 167. Anytime Fitness is 4-5 on the summer. Anytime Fitness coach Steve Bullock said his team has shown signs of improvement this summer.

“We have guys moving around to different positions. It’s given us the opportunity to see more guys pitch,” Bullock said.

The coach added moving Doug Conravey back to centerfield from the infield has made a huge difference for Anytime Fitness.

The first game winner takes on the victor of the Pelican Waste (Belle Chasse High) and Gauthier & Amedee (Gonzales) at 4:30 Sunday, while the losers play at 9:30 Sunday morning.