The 2024 Louisiana high school baseball season is officially here, as regular season games across the state kick off today.  The start of a new high school season is always exciting because everyone starts off back even.  For us, at Prep Baseball Louisiana, this is also one of our favorite times of the year because our only focus is to get out and see players in live game action, as we will not hold another one of our events until after the completion of the high school baseball season.  We're also excited to bring back our High School Game of the Week, which has seen so many memorable matchups over the last few seasons.  Choosing our Week 1 Game of the Week was relatively easy, because there's no way that we would miss the top two teams in our Power 25 Rankings go to battle.  So, with that being said, we are excited to announce that our first Game of the Week for the 2024 high school season will be between #1 Catholic B.R. and #2 West Monroe!  Both of these teams have somewhat sour tastes left in their mouth, after how last season ended, as the Bears lost in the semifinals to Rummel, and the Rebels lost in the state finals to Barbe.  If you want to see a high-powered matchup between two teams with some of the best prospects in the state, then you will not want to miss this matchup.  The storylines are abundant for this 5A clash between #1 Catholic B.R. and #2 West Monroe, so be sure to follow us, across all of our social media platforms, for our Week 1 Game of the Week!

 

Catholic B.R. HS vs. West Monroe HS

 

-Date: Game 1: Thursday 02/22/24 | Game 2: Friday 02/23/24 | Game 3: Saturday 02/24/24

-Time: Game 1: 5 PM | Game 2: 5 PM | Game 3: 11 AM

-Location: Catholic B.R. High School

-Catholic B.R. HS (2023 Record): 36-3

-Head Coach: Brad Bass

-West Monroe HS (2023 Record): 34-5

-Head Coach: Wade Simoneaux

 

-Key Players (Catholic B.R.): 2024 RHP William Schmidt (LSU signee), 2024 3B/RHP Trip Dobson (Houston signee), 2024 OF Brooks Wright (UL-Lafayette signee), 2025 SS Jack Ruckert (LSU commit), 2025 C/UTIL Andrew Clapinski, 2025 OF Noah Lewis (UL-Lafayette commit), 2024 OF/LHP Wyatt Chenevert (Nicholls State signee), 2024 RHP Grant Breaux (LSU signee), 2024 RHP Ryder Loup (Loyola-New Orleans commit), 2025 C/INF Edward Henriquez, 2025 OF/RHP Davis Emonet, 2025 OF Chase Harris, 2025 RHP Bennett Smith, 2026 RHP/INF Mills Richardson, 2026 LHP Lucas Lawrence, 2026 INF Turner Goldsmith

-Key Players (West Monroe): 2024 3B/OF John Pearson (LSU signee), 2024 MIF Hayden Federico (Ole Miss signee), 2024 1B/OF Trey Hawsey (Louisiana Tech signee), 2024 LHP Brennan Eager (Louisiana-Monroe signee), 2025 C/RHP Tyler Roark, 2025 RHP Andrew Ferguson (Louisiana Tech commit), 2026 LHP/1B Bradyn Garner (LSU commit), 2024 OF Isaiah Shivers (Louisiana-Monroe signee), 2025 OF/RHP Garrett Frye, 2025 C Lytton Arledge, 2025 RHP Dalton Richardson, 2025 MIF Drew Anderson, 2026 RHP/INF Gage Carr 

GAME PREVIEW

Louisiana high school baseball fans are getting quite the treat, right off the bat in Week 1, with West Monroe traveling down to Baton Rouge, LA to meet with Catholic B.R. for a three-game series, as the Bears and Rebels currently sit at #1 and #2 in our Power 25 Rankings.  This series will be filled with star-power with current and future college recruits all over the field for both teams.  When looking at the strengths for each team, Catholic B.R. has as deep of a pitching staff as anyone led by a trio of seniors in RHP William Schmidt (LSU signee), RHP Ryder Loup (Loyola-New Orleans commit), and RHP Trip Dobson (Houston signee).  West Monroe has one of the best and most explosive offenses in the state that is headlined by senior 3B John Pearson (LSU signee), SS Hayden Federico (Ole Miss signee), and 1B/OF Trey Hawsey (Louisiana Tech signee).  The Bears offense, however, isn't lacking too far behind their pitching, as they'll likely have five college commits in their starting lineup that includes a good mix of speed and power.  The Rebels pitching staff isn't too shabby either with junior RHP Drew Ferguson (Louisiana Tech commit) and sophomore LHP Bradyn Garner (LSU commit) as their likely starters in the first two games.  Who will win the series remains to be seen, but we fully expect an intense, playoff-like atmosphere for the entire series, and we wouldn't be shocked if it came down to who wins Game 3.  Regardless of who wins or loses this series, both of these teams are super talented and are contenders for a state title this spring, but whoever does win this series will certainly be feeling extra-confident after the first week of the regular season.  

Follow us on Twitter: @PBR_Louisiana

Follow us on Instagram: @PBR_Louisiana

Related Content: