Sports Report March 4, 2024

For information on membership, sponsorships, spirit items, digital tickets, VSN subscription, and more, please click here.

Many thanks to the following Green N White Club corporate sponsors for their support this year:

Bollinger Shipyards

LaFleur & Laborde

Tulane Doctors

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The Chloe

CMS's Services LLC

Dawn Services

First Horizon Bank

Landry & Swarr LLC, Attorney-at-Law

Manning Passing Academy

Ashley and J.T. Nesser

Taceaux Loceaux

Walker & Dunlop

Woodward Design+Build

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Auto-Chlor, Bayou Hot Wings,

C. Collection, Betsy and Gary Laborde,

Marquette Transportation, Midway Pizza,

K. Miller Gem and Jewelry Brokerage,

Moses Engineering, NOLA Chill, Seatrax,

Stretch Zone, tasc Performance,

Vendisco Culinary Services, Villere & Co.

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Black Bay Energy Capital,

The Chicory House | The Garden District Book Shop,

Deirdre and Hal Moffett, Entablature - Design/Build,

Amy Farnsworth Designs, Lovell and Company

Baseball

Last weekend, the Diamond Greenies were one of a number of local teams that traveled northwest for the Trey Altick La. Prep Classic in Monroe, Louisiana. The Greenies played 4 games in 3 days, went undefeated, pushed their early season record to 6-1, and came together as a unit, making memories on and off the field. 

Thursday was Sauska shove night, and the Sophomore right-hander put on a show. The pitchers’ duel between Newman and the 4A Eunice Bobcats was scoreless until the bottom of the 4th when Greenie Senior Jack Nesser reached base on a Bobcat error. Nesser moved to second when Sophomore Charles Wilson singled. Senior Brendan Blackburn then hit into a fielder’s choice, with Nesser moving to 3rd and Wilson out at 2nd, setting up the offensive play of the game. Relying on heady base-running, Blackburn distracted the Bobcats and intentionally gave himself up in a run-down between 1st and 2nd, which allowed Nesser to steal home, giving Newman a one run lead. In the 6th inning, Newman added an insurance run by Nesser, after he singled, Blackburn singled and Sauska doubled. With Sophomore Christian Sauska dealing on the mound, the two runs were all Newman needed. Sauska pitched an absolute gem, finishing with 14 strikeouts while allowing only 2 hits over 6 ⅔ innings. Junior Tyler Zweifler came out of the bullpen to get the final out and shutdown the Bobcats, cementing the 2-0 win. 

On Friday, the Diamond Greenies faced 4A Loranger in another tight contest. The game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the 5th, when Senior Ethan Dulitz drew a walk and was subbed in for by Sophomore pinch runner George Loop, who quickly moved to 2nd on a passed ball. A sacrifice bunt by Zweifler moved G. Loop to 3rd, setting up some Loop Garou swamp-magic as big brother Peter Loop singled in little brother G. Loop, giving Newman a 1-0 lead. Later that same inning, Blackburn had a 2 RBI single scoring P. Loop and Wilson, and then Sauska knocked in Blackburn with an RBI single of his own. Zweifler got the 4-2 win for the Greenies, going 5 ⅓ innings and striking out 7, with Junior Henry Cook pitching 1 ⅔ innings of terrific relief, striking out 2 and giving up no hits. 

In the first game of the Saturday double-header, Newman got a 10-3 win over Claiborne Christian. Cook picked-up where he left off on the mound, going 6 solid innings while giving up only 3 runs. P. Loop (1 hit, 2 runs), Nesser (2 hits, 2 runs), Wilson (1 hit), Sauska (1 hit, 3 RBIs), Senior Clayton Stevens (2 RBIs), and Zweifler (2 hits) generated the bulk of the offense for the Greenies. 

The second game against Family Community Christian (FCC) was an exciting back-and-forth affair. The Greenies led 4-1 after 2 innings, but FCC tied it up and threatened to take the lead in the 6th, when their four-hole hitter came up with the bases juiced and two outs. The FCC batter hit a shot to deep left field, as Greenie LF Charles Wilson back-pedaled furiously… and tripped… falling to the ground as Greenie Nation collectively held their breath… fearing another 2 or 3 runs would score. Miraculously, however, just as Wilson’s  back hit the ground the FCC fly ball landed in his welcoming glove… giving the Greenies the third and final out of the inning. Then, with two outs and the score knotted at 4 in the top of the 7th and final inning, Clayton Stevens singled on a line drive to center field, scoring Wilson and the go-ahead Greenie run. Thereafter, Senior Guy Guidroz drew a walk, and Ethan Dulitz hit a moon shot to right field, where the FCC fielder lost the ball in the blinding midday sun, allowing Dulitz to reach base on an error and Stevens and Guidroz to score, giving Newman a three run cushion. Wilson got the win, pitching 4 ⅓ solid innings for the Greenies (after catching all weekend) and Sophomore Jack Falgoust provided 2 ⅔ innings of clutch relief to close out the 7-4 Greenie victory. 

This week, the 6-1 Diamond Greenies hope to stay hot, with another busy 5 game stretch, including home games at Avenger on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (all three games starting at 6:30pm). Please come cheer on your Diamond Greenies!

Boys Basketball

The Newman Boys Varsity Basketball team is the top-seed in Division III Select Playoffs and reached the final four state tournament for the 5th year in a row by defeating the number 9 seed, Country Day, 46-25 in the quarter final game on Friday night in the packed Palaestra. The Greenies' defense was suffocating and executed with precision so the Cajuns were unable to score in the first quarter. Country Day's plan to slow down the game kept them from getting into a rhythm and Newman did not allow a field goal until more than halfway through the third quarter. Newman is a high energy and athletic team that plays at a fast pace and above the rim. Offensively, Newman was too big and athletic for Country Day, and our defense was solid all night long. Feeding off the energy of the fans and the student section, Newman scored from all three levels and controlled the game from the beginning. Newman was led by Senior Todd Jones Jr., who finished with 14 pts, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks.  The Newman Greenies (18-3 in-state) advanced to the semifinals to face the number 13 seed, Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. The game will be played at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles on Tuesday (3/5) at 2:45 pm. Go Greenies!

Lacrosse

In the first contest of a back-to-back weekend of lacrosse for Newman, the Bears from Catholic High in Baton Rouge traveled east on Friday night to face the Greenies at Lupin Field. While the game stayed tight and physical throughout the 4-quarters of play, ultimately the combination of self-inflicted wounds and an aggressive press defense from Catholic proved to be the deciding factors in the 8-5 loss. On defense, senior goalie McCall “The Wall” Engelhardt continued to show the crowd why he is the best goalie in the state, saving 17 shots for the Greenies, and senior Paolo Guillen contributed 5 caused turn overs. Juniors Eli Friend and Patrick Landry once again morphed into commercial-grade vacuums on the turf, snatching up 7 and 5 ground balls, respectively. Junior Max Kukuy led Newman in scoring with 3 goals.    

On Saturday, Newman lacrosse made a quick turn around and traveled west to Lafayette to meet the Loyola College Prep Flyers of Shreveport “in the middle” for the final “North vs. South” matchup of the season for the Greenies. Notwithstanding a likely slower than desired start to the contest following the completion of a hard-fought game against Catholic only about 16 hours earlier, Newman ultimately started to pick up the pace into the second portion of the first half. Unfortunately, by that point the Flyers found themselves too far in the rear-view mirror to catch up, with the Greenies easily rolling to an 18-5 victory. Contributions in the win were spread around across the entire roster, both on offense and defense. On offense, senior Heid Manning and junior Max Kukuy lead the team in scoring with 4 goals apiece (including an additional 6 assists for Max), with contributions also coming in from junior Eli Friend (3 goals; 3 assists), junior William Mahfouz (2 goals; 2 assists), senior Coalter McCall (2 goals), sophomore Price Demeyers (1 goal), senior Andy Friedman (1 goal) and sophomore Christopher Connolly (1 goal). On defense, senior goalie McCall Engelhardt saved 9 shots by the Flyers, and junior Patrick Landry picked up 6 ground balls and 1 caused turnover. Several other members of the Newman defensive squad played a role in the lopsided victory, including William Darragh (2 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers) and senior Paolo Guillen (4 ground balls and 1 caused turnover).   

Newman Lacrosse now sits at 5-1 on the season, and faces its Orleans Parish arch rival Jesuit at Tad Gormley stadium at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. The Jesuit fans will undoubtedly travel in droves for the matchup as they always do, and we need to do our best to match that energy for our boys. PLEASE come out to City Park on Wednesday and support the Greenies for this pivotal seasonal matchup against the Blue Jays. 

Softball

The Newman Greenies (1-0) defeated 5A Bonnabel High School 19-2 last Monday in an impressive season opener thanks in part to a 12 run first inning.  The Greenies also scored seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the second inning. 

Starting pitcher Jesse Lambert earned the win for Newman as she allowed zero hits and one run (zero earned) over one and two-thirds innings, striking out four and walking two. Maryn Huber and Sydney Able also pitched in relief to help close out the game.

Top hitters were Jesse Lambert (3 runs scored & 3 RBI), Sydney Able (2 runs scored & 2 RBI) , Emma Passler (2 runs scored & 1 RBI),  and Sydney Gallagher (3 runs scored & 1 RBI), each collecting two hits for the Newman Greenies. 

The Greenies are back in action this week with a full slate of games starting Tuesday on the road against a tough St. Martin’s Team (4:00pm at St. Martin’s). Two more home games both at JPRD Softball Complex on Thursday vs Crescent City (4:30pm) and Friday vs Dunham (4:30pm) will round out the week. Newman Softball thanks their fans for attending and we look forward to seeing more of you at the park for some exciting varsity softball action.

Boys Tennis

In their first match of the season, the Newman Boy’s Tennis Team faced perennial Division 1 powerhouse Brother Martin on February 22 at UNO.  The boys competed well but ultimately succumbed to 7-0.  In Doubles, Archer VanDenburgh and Simms Hardin lost to Mitchell Armbruster and Reed MacAlester 8-3; Ian Todd and Jai Bansal lost in a match tiebreaker to Grant Brewer and Brandon Herzeau 9-8; and Daniel Taylor and Thomas Gershanik were defeated by Jack Walker and Sam Dinshaw 8-2.  In Singles, Archer VanDenburgh lost a very close match to Sal Trujillo 9-7; Simms Hardin was defeated by Max Edwards 8-1; Jai Bansal lost to Dillan LaFrance 8-4; and Thomas Gershanik was defeated by Hayden Perilloux 8-0.

On March 2, the Newman Boys travelled to Baton Rouge to play another Division 1 opponent, Episcopal High. They lost 3-2 in a very competitive outing.  In Doubles, VanDenburgh and Hardin defeated Michael Zhang and Davis Bruno 7-5, 6-3; Ian Todd and Pierce Cunningham lost to John Staley and Ali Kerimov 7-6, 6-4; and Paul Richard and Amar Walia beat Hayden Singh and Fred Frey 6-2, 6-0. In Singles, Jai Bansal lost to Ethan Davis 6-3, 6-0; and Thomas Gershanik was defeated by Samuel Messina 6-2, 6-1.

Girls Tennis

On Friday, March 1 the Girls Tennis Team traveled to Baton Rouge to play two matches.  The first match was played Friday afternoon at the impressive LSU Tennis Facility against the talented and heavily favored St. Joseph’s Academy Girls Team.  The girls fought hard but were unable to come up with a victory and the team fell 0-5 to St. Joseph’s.  In the Line 1 Singles Match, junior Gwendolyn Gray played tough against the highly ranked senior Ella Mancuso, but came up short with a score of 4-6, 4-6.  

On Saturday morning, the girls traveled across town to face the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge at their home facility.  The girls rebounded from their loss on Friday and delivered an impressive 6-0 victory over the Episcopal Girls Team.  All the girls dug deep and were able to deliver victories in each line of the competition.  

In her first singles effort of the season, eighth grader Macy Montgomery played an excellent match against the Line 2 Episcopal player and came away with 6-0, 6-0 victory for the team.  Sophomore Psalm McClellan and freshman Aashna Sharma also played a competitive match contributing a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 victory to the team effort.  In Line 1 Doubles, eighth grader Francie Casbarian and junior Belle Wanek teamed up to defeat Episcopal 7-5, 6-0, and in Line 3, sophomore Molly Gorman and eighth grader Catherine Pietras came away with a 7-5, 7-6(5) victory.

After winning State Championships the last 4 consecutive seasons, the girls team lost 5 seniors for 2024.  This year’s team is young and talented, with the oldest players being juniors Gwendolyn Gray (team captain) and Belle Wanek (who returned to the team this week fresh from the Newman Girl’s Soccer State Championship victory).  In addition, the girls welcomed their new head coach Logan Bueche, who replaced Hossam Meligy after his nine-year tenure.

This weekend’s trip proved to be an excellent opportunity for the girls to bond and successfully develop team spirit.  Indeed, the future is very bright for Newman Girls Tennis as we watch these young girls mature and develop into very talented players.

Upcoming Schedule

See the latest Newman sports schedule here. 

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