Softball power rankings show publics rule roost

So, tell me again what was the public school principals’ big gripe when they voted to add softball to the list of sports doomed to separate playoffs?
 
When I compared the power points the LHSAA’s softball teams have accumulated over the first half of the season, I couldn’t see what the public schools had to fear.
 
The highest-ranking team in Class 5A among public schools is Ouachita with a rounded-off power rating of 15.59. The highest-ranking team in Division I (non-public schools) is Evangel at 12.28.
 
Four public schools have higher numbers than Evangel.
 
Mount Carmel ranks second among the schools playing for a division championship with an 11.46 rating. If there was one common playoff system, the Cubs would rank No. 8.
 
Dominican’s 8.26 power ranking would place that team No. 23 in a common Class 5A playoff bracket.
 
There isn’t one school playing for a division softball title that ranks ahead of a public school playing for a championship in the top two classes.
 
The top Division II team is Parkview Baptist with an 11.06 power ranking. Public schools North Desoto (12.10) and DeRidder (11.51) have higher ratings.
 
At 8.63, the Academy of Our Lady is currently the No. 8 seed in Division II. In a common playoff, 17 public schools would be ranked higher.
 
And the beat goes on: 18 are ranked higher than No. 9 De La Salle and No. 10 Ursuline, and 19 public school teams have higher ratings than No. 11 St. Scholastica and No. 14 Cabrini.
 
Calvary Baptist (13.06) has a higher rating than its public counterpart, North Vermilion (12.12), in a Division III versus Class 3A comparison.

St. Charles Catholic, the No. 2 ranked team in Division III, would rank No. 4 in a common playoff. Archbishop Hannan (10.30) sits currently in the No. 6 slot, but would be No. 10 under the past playoff system.

And Pope John Paul II with a power ranking of 4.34 is No. 17 among Division III teams. If the Jaguars were placed in Class 3A, they would be No. 29; in Class 2A they fare a little better at No. 26.

So, again I ask, why is there a need for everyone to get a participation trophy?

Shaw gets its man
Kudos to the administration of Archbishop Shaw. It found the right man to replace the departing Scott Bairnsfather as the new head football coach. He was there all the time.

Tommy Connors will make an easy move from Shaw’s defensive coordinator to its head coach. He just has to change desks.

Connors was an All-State and Clarion Herald Elite Team safety in his senior final of 2004. He went on to became a four-time All-Conference defensive back at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Connors returned to Shaw as defensive backfield coach in 2011. Bairnsfather, for whom he played, named him defensive coordinator in 2015.

Two gala celebrations
Holy Cross inducted its second sports Hall of Fame class in a ceremony at school on March 18.

The inductees included Buck Landry (1961), Harry Nunez (1962), Ken Hrapmann (1968), Billy Dalton (1969), Billy Rapp (1983), Tony Bouie (1990), Chris Thompson (1990) and the late Billy Burtschaell (1950) and Chuck Knowles (1969).

Meanwhile, Jesuit honored two state championship baseball teams (2002 and 2007) on March 17 prior to a game against Central Lafourche.

More than 100 past Blue Jay players were in attendance.

Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].