Leesville, La. —
It is understandable when a pitcher wins the Pitcher of the Year honor on the all-Vernon Parish team.
But when two other pitchers when other awards, you know the fireballers in Vernon Parish are something special.
The Pitkin duo of Trevor West and Kendal Abel, along with Leesville senior lefty Troy Harry, were among the superlative award winners on the all-Vernon Parish baseball team, as determined by the sports department of the Leesville Daily Leader.
West, a junior who also played first base, was the Pitcher of the Year in Vernon Parish as he had a record of 6-1 on the season, with that loss coming in the playoffs to district rival Hornbeck.
In league play, West, who was the District 5-B Most Valuable Player, was 3-0 on the hill with a 1.27 earned run average. Along with his .429 batting average, West was a key performer in Pitkin's perfect 10-0 district championship season.
For the year, West had three homers and 24 RBIs, along with a .424 batting average as the Tigers reached the second round of the Class B playoffs.
Abel, a freshman for the Tigers, went 4-0 in district play with a 0.37 earned run average as he was named the Newcomer of the Year on the all-parish baseball team.
He was also pretty solid with the bat for the Tigers, batting seventh in the lineup, where he had ample opportunity to drive in runs with a solid lineup in front of him. He batted .381 on the season and connected on a pair of home runs.
Harry was arguably the best pitcher on the Leesville staff, although he contributed in many other areas for the Wampus Cats. He picked up a number of wins on the mound for the Cats and had a low earned run average, thus earning Harry the Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Also, Harry could have been argued for Offensive Player of the Year accolades as he sported a .429 batting average in District 3-4A play. Out of his 15 hits in district play, 10 were for extra bases — nine doubles and one home run. Harry also had 14 RBIs, good enough for third in the district.
The Offensive Player of the Year honors went to Anacoco junior left fielder Kyle Hearn.
Hearn batted .543 on the season with a pair of home runs, 17 RBIs and 16 runs scored. In district play, he upped his average to nearly .600 as he was voted first-team all-district.
Once the playoffs commenced, Hearn continued to respond. Against Stanley, he went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and was a key component in the Indians' comeback win over Choudrant in the quarterfinals.
On the big stage at Bringhurst, Hearn was not afraid, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs in Anacoco's win over Zwolle in the state semifinals.
Hearn scored a run and reached on a fielder's choice in the state finals against Oak Hill, but it wasn't enough as the Indians were the runners-up.
Hearn later earned all-state honors from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, along with the Vernon Parish Player of the Year, Hornbeck's Christopher Soileau.
Rounding out the award winners was first-year Anacoco boss Robbie Bainer. the Vernon Parish Coach of the Year.
After serving as an assistant under veteran coach Ron Roy at Simpson, Bainer moved to Anacoco last summer to take over the Indians' baseball program.
It was a tough in the beginning for the Indians as a number of starters were still playing basketball in the early portion of March. But once they finished on the court, they immediately helped the Indians on the diamond.
Bainer, along with the hoops heroes, were able to guide Anacoco into the playoffs, where the Indians had a magical run. The Indians upset three of the top five teams in the state — No. 1 Zwolle, No. 4 Choudrant and No. 5 Stanley — along with 12th-ranked Glenmora en route to reaching the state finals before falling to second-seeded Oak Hill.
