Berwick baseball looking to make a run at repeat

Coming into last season, the Berwick Panthers had a lot of holes to fill but did so with players who had waited their time and then made the most of it on the field, leading the school to a Class 3A state championship, its first baseball title in 40 years.
This season, after working to reach the proverbial mountaintop a year ago, Berwick has done the same thing, utilizing a mixture of returning starters from 2018 along with multiple seniors who have waited their time, to put the Panthers in prime position to make a run at a second consecutive state championship.
“Knowing that we were going to have some new starters, (it) was pretty much easy to tell the guys, ‘hey, this is a new season. This isn’t the same,’” second-year Berwick Coach Brandon Bravata said. “And honestly, we’ve done a phenomenal job of kind of putting that (state championship) in the past. It’s something we’ll always remember, but at this point, that needs to be put off to (remember) until later in their lives.”
Bravata said his team has done a good job of focusing on the present.
“I have not seen much of a hangover effect,” he said.
On last year’s team, the Panthers lost the District 8-3A Most Valuable Player, three Class 3A All-State selections and two additional first-team all-district selections.
All-State players who were lost to graduation were utility player Kyle Pitre, outfielder Reid Wiley and catcher Lucas Hatch. Pitre was a selection on both the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association Class 3A All-State team and a first-team pick on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-State squad after pitching and playing shortstop.
He, along with Wiley, were named to the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association All-State Composite team. Wiley also was an honorable mention Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 3A All-State selection a year ago.
Hatch, an honorable mention Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 3A All-State selection a year ago and a Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association All-State selection, as well as first-team All-District selections Patrick Robertson (pitcher) and Kyle Boudreaux (utility) also were lost to graduation.
Despite the losses, the Panthers do return firepower, led by senior Division I baseball signees, Mitchell Sanford, who is LSU bound, and Zeph Hoffpauir, who will become a Louisiana Ragin Cajun after his senior season ends.
Sanford, who played both centerfield and pitched a year ago, earned Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association All-State and first-team Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-State honors for his work on the mound. He also was chosen as a second-team selection on the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Louisiana Baseball Team in the outfield.
Sanford has spent much of this season in the outfield for the Panthers.
Hoffpauir was an honorable mention Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-State selection a year ago as a utility pick.
The Panthers also return Brett Williams, a first-team All-District selection at third base a year ago, who has moved to shortstop this season, and second-team all-district pitcher Chad La-Grange, who plays right field, too, this season.
Berwick features 13 seniors on this year’s squad, and seniors fill virtually every position on the field.
“I was actually concerned,” Bravata said. “I thought it would be a difficult year with that many seniors, but fortunately, we’ve had good leadership, and next year we’ll kind of start over and rebuild, but we’re going to enjoy it while we can this year.”
At 24-7 with the team’s regular season finale Saturday at home against Westminster Christian, the Panthers actually are ahead of last season at this time. A year ago, the Panthers finished the regular season with a 22-8 mark.
“If you’d have asked me that at the beginning of the season if I would have taken that, I would have,” Bravata said of this season’s record. “We had a couple of disappointing losses in district that were one-run games that we wish we could have had back, but other than that, I think the guys have been focused. I think they’ve come out and done everything that we’ve asked them to do.
“They’ve been strong in the weight room,” Bravata added. “They’ve come out and practiced hard every day, and so I think it’s a tribute to their hard work that they’ve put in, and we’re really fortunate to be right where we’re at. We’re hoping to stick on this four-seed and get to host the playoffs throughout.”
Berwick, who sports a 53-15 mark during the past two years and has won 20-plus straight home games, is led this season on the mound by junior ace Seth Canty, who has stepped into the role after holding a limited role a year ago, Bravata said.
Behind the plate is senior Zeph Delatte at catcher, while at first base is Hoffpauir, and senior Hunter Landry plays second base. The team’s shortstop is Williams, while senior Ethan Nguyen holds down third base.
In the outfield, senior Barrett Hover plays leftfield, Sanford is in centerfield and LaGrange, in right field.
Senior Seth Giroir is the team’s designated hitter.
Other pitchers for the Panthers are senior Rustin Ratcliff, Hoffpauir and freshman Clay Menard. Bravata said the Berwick coaching staff has used a lot of players on the mound this season.
“Even our bench players have understood their role — and that’s two years in a row where the guys have understood their role, and we’ve had very little drama in the dugout,” Bravata said.