Abp. Hannan sweeps most top awards

    Archbishop Hannan High School is just one reclassification from saying goodbye to Class 1A athletics.
    But before the Goodbee school moves up to Class 2A, its softball team is leaving an indelible mark on its 1A class-mates.
    For the second consecutive year, the Lady Hawks are the state champions of their class, having beaten Ouachita Christian, 5-1, for that title on April 28. So, once again, they enjoy the spoils of victory by nearly sweeping the 2012 Clarion Herald Elite Softball Team’s top honors.
    Junior shortstop Kimberly Nilsson is a repeater as the Elite Team’s Outstanding Player. She was last year as a sophomore and even more so as a junior this year.
    Besides batting for a lofty .470 average and leading a defense that shut out 11 opponents, Nilsson was the take-charge player on the field, an extension of head coach Becky Lambert.        

    Junior pitcher Maddi Shelton won 16 of 24 games for Hannan, including all five playoff victories enroute to the title and is named the Outstanding Pitcher for her solid effort.
    Lambert and Ginger Dilworth of the Academy of Our Lady are co-Coaches of the Year.
    Lambert led the Lady Hawks to a 24-7 record, which included a sweep of District 7-1A opponents, winning all six games by the 10-run rule and outscoring the other three teams, 116-0. Hannan won all five playoff games by a 44-6 margin.
    In her third season as head coach, Dilworth led the Penguins to a 20-12 record and to the Class 4A semifinals for the first time. AOL shared the District 9-4A title with Belle Chasse with whom it split their two district meetings.
    The Penguins have become one of the top teams in Class 4A under Dilworth’s tutelage.

    Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].