Ascension Christian taps George Guiterrez as head coach for girls softball

Ascension Christian High School made the announcement to hire George Guiterrez as its new head softball coach, saying, We believe coach Guiterrez will be a fantastic addition to our school and our softball program.

Guiterrez is no newcomer to softball coaching, starting his career in 1994. He spent his first 15 years coaching in travel ball with the Lady Hawks organization, honing his skills in tournament softball.

Guiterrez then left the travel ball arena and spent one year as an assistant coach at Dutchtown High before a reduction in staffing imposed by a LHSAA regulation sent him to Ascension Christian for a year. Guiterrez returned to the Griffins when the regulation was rescinded, where he remained for six years.

I am excited to be heading to Ascension Christian to coach the Lady Lions again. My time at Dutchtown with coach Nancy Ensminger was very rewarding and very helpful in what I learned from her and their staff, Guiterrez said. But I always looked forward to the chance to do it on my own and now I have that opportunity.

As for the new assignment, Ive had the opportunity to meet with the team this past week and have some tryouts and things went really good.

The new head coach wont be tackling the new assignment alone. Guiterrez has his daughter, Carly, as one as his assistants, along with Ricky Willis, whos got just about as much experience as the new head coach with a long stint at Christian Life Academy and Dunham for the last few years. Rounding out the staff is Jonathan Bagwell, who will be a great help, as well.

When Guiterrez finishes up with the fall ball schedule in July, hell be all hands on with his new team.

The 12-10 record this team from last year was led by our pitcher, Maddie Gautreau, and shell be back. With the staff we have and from what Ive seen already, I have great reason to believe our next season will be plenty productive, and well be very competitive, he said.

The baseball career of St. Amant pitching ace Blayne Enlow nearly came to an end before it began. On October 7, 2014, just before his Gator sophomore season, Enlow was in a car crash that left him with a broken pelvis and a fractured ankle in two places.

Many thought the crash would end any hope of Enlow playing baseball again. But with some help from his dad and a belief that was strong, Enlow not only made his way back to the diamond, but went on to what might be described as an only in my dreams career.

With a lot of hard work, Enlow got his fastball speed up to 90 mph by summer. He earned a scholarship offer from LSU that would be a dream come true for any baseball player and then pitched his way into a trial for a chance to play for the USA Baseball 18-and-under team.

Not only did the St. Amant senior pitcher earn a spot on the team, he picked up a win on the mound to help the team win the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Monterrey, Mexico.

That USA team went on to beat Cuba 6-1 in the championship game and finished 7-1 in the tournament. Enlow was the only player from Louisiana on the 20-player roster.

But Enlow wont be playing for LSU next season, which would be heartbreaking for every athlete. Instead, hell be playing major league baseball with the Minnesota Twins. The star St. Amant Gator got a call on the golf course letting him know hed been the first player selected on the second day of the MLB draft in the third round at No. 76 overall. Enlow is scheduled to sign with the Twins on Friday.

In the district championship baseball tournament in St. Francisville from June 15-18, the 9-and-under boys baseball team from Donaldsonville captured the championship title.

Coached by Troy LeBoeuf, Jason Casso and Timmy Chiquet, the team compiled a 4-0 record.

Fueled by hot bats that produced a 12-run average along with a stingy defense and a pitching staff that only allowed 4 runs per game, the boys went undefeated. John Rob Daigle also was awarded the MVP title.

The Mississippi River rose to over 41 feet in Baton Rouge, which is high enough for public concern. It has crested and is falling, so the concern of opening floodgates is over and high water issues have subsided. But there is another group of folks who get a little concerned when the water gets this high: anglers.

But for those anglers, especially the catfish ones, this is a highly anticipated time every spring and early summer. Thats when the river monsters, if I might steal the title, make their way into the trees and along the bank of the levee, leaving them exposed and vulnerable to a bank angler for the catching.

Its not quite as easy as it might seem. First you have to find a place with public access. Then you need to find bait. Thats not too difficult, as night crawlers or cut bait of any kind will usually work pretty good.

Where to cast your bait is probably the problem to work on. As the water falls, the fish pull away from the bank, so you might have to cast in the trees. Start off casting in open water and work your way out. If you dont have any action in about an hour, find another spot so you dont waste too much time.

Its not uncommon for a catfish near 100 pounds to be caught this time of the year, so make sure you have tackle to handle a big fish. The river might fall pretty fast, so get out soon and see if you can catch a big one and send us a photo to publish.

Lyle Johnson, a writer and host of the Ascension Outdoors cable TV show, covers sports and the outdoors for The Ascension Advocate. He can be contacted at reelman@eatel.net or ascension@theadvocate.com.

Continued here:

Ascension Athletics for June 22, 2017 - The Advocate