How Vandebilt baseball restored its championship glory with first LHSAA title in 51 years

HAMMOND – Vandebilt Catholic baseball is a LHSAA state champion again after 51 years.

Vandebilt routed University Lab 12-2 in six innings for the Division II championship at Alumni Field on Sunday.

Vandebilt (33-8) won its 12th state championship in school history. It won nine baseball state championships when it was known as St. Francis de Sales Catholic High School (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962), one as Houma Central Catholic in 1965 and one as Vandebilt in 1971 season.

It was Vandebilt’s first state championship game appearance since 1996.

“We teach the players to embrace their history," Vandebilt coach Chad Menard said. "We have a great history. This is about all of us. This is about Vandebilt. It’s not about one individual or coach. There were former players that were calling and they were tearing up from just how excited they were for the program.

"So many people before us have laid the foundation for us to have this moment. It’s so much bigger than us."

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Senior pitcher Owen Schexnaydre, who is committed to LSU-Eunice, was named the game's most outstanding player. He had three strikeouts and went 4-for-4 with two RBIs .

Schexnaydre said the Terriers were focused entering Sunday's final.

"We treated it as a business trip," Schexnaydre said. "We’ve been preparing for this moment for the last five years ... We've taken nothing for granted. We do whatever we can to win. We did it this year. The team chemistry is unmatched. You’re not going to find another team like this. Everything worked out the way we wanted it to."

Senior catcher Eli David, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI, said Vandebilt was loose and confident.

"We’ve been working our whole lives for this," David said. "We deserve every second of this accomplishment. I’m so excited. This is such a big deal. I never thought I would be in this moment five years ago but we’re here and we won it."

Dominic Archila, who had two hits, had the game-winning two-run single in the sixth.

Vandebilt's win means that the Houma area will have two LHSAA state champions in baseball for the 2021-22 school year. South Terrebonne captured the Class 4A state title for the first time with a 7-6 win over North Vermilion in Sulphur on Saturday.

Menard said it was a great accomplishment to win a state championship after dealing with the devastation from Hurricane Ida.

“We have an assistant coach who has been living with his wife and children in a two-room pool house," Menard said. "That’s still going on in our community. Our school has had boarded up windows and temporary roofs. I have not heard a single complaint from any student or any faculty. They are so resilient in our community. We're so thankful to be a part of this. To be able to have this experience with these young men and the community is a phenomenal experience.

"We’re so proud of South Terrebonne who had a wonderful game on Saturday. We watched it and a couple of our kids are good friends. They have a great program over there.”

Reach Chris Singleton at 985-857-2213 or chris.singleton@houmatoday.com and on Twitter @courierchris.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: LHSAA baseball: Vandebilt defeats University Lab in Division II final