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MICHAEL MARINO JR.

Michael Marino Jr., a native of Morgan City, passed away on April 21, 2018, at the age of 51.
Michael, better known as Mike, retired as a Captain for the Morgan City Police Department after 28 years of dedication. While an integral part of the MCPD family, Mike worked as a jailer, as a patrol officer, and as a detective. His ceaseless drive to help his community attained him the ranks of Sergeant of patrol and narcotics, Lieutenant and Captain over the Enforcement Division.
A Spiritual person, Mike loved spending time with his family and those friends who were just as close as family. He enjoyed being on the water fishing, doing anything for and with law enforcement, and especially telling stories and reminiscing about his days on the police force. Because he had such a big heart Mike was one of those rare individuals that everyone could always count on.
Mike is survived by one son, Luke Marino; step-daughter Courtney Carpenter; mother Barbara Topham; sister Rhonda Marino David and her husband, Dwayne; stepsister Jennifer Vicknair and her wife, Jennifer Chehardy; uncle Garrett Topham Jr. and his wife, Brenda; aunt Lebrun Mahfouz; and numerous cousins and good friends, as well as his very best friend and confidant, Mike Nelson.
Mike was preceded in death by his father, Michael Marino Sr.; maternal grandparents Garrett and Ellen Topham; paternal grandparents Katy and Luke Anthony Marino; aunt Rayola “Tut” Theriot and her husband Walter; and his aunt, Linda D’Vietro.
The family requests that visitation be observed on Thursday, April 26, 2018, from 9 a.m. until the time of services at 1 p.m. at Hargrave Funeral Home of Morgan City. Following services, Mike will be laid to rest in the Morgan City Cemetery. Police honors will be officiated by his brothers and sisters in blue from the Morgan City Police Department.
Arrangements are under the direction of Hargrave Funeral Home.

Wheel House for April 25

MCJHS COTILLION
Morgan City Junior High School Sisters Organization Cotillion 6 p.m. Saturday, May 5. at the school. Admission $6 at door.

Berwick marathon man

Submitted Photo
Berwick High Graduate Jason Cheek finished his second Boston Marathon in 2:57:03 on April 17. Cheek is a U.S. Army veteran who has served tours in Iraq and Germany. Cheek is married to Amy Cole Cheek, and they have two daughters. They currently reside in Baton Rouge and own TruBlue Water Co.

Revival this weekend

Submitted Photo
Evangelists the Rev. and Mrs. Steve Puckett of Hazel Green, Alabama, will be at Bayou Vista Community Fellowship for a revival Friday through Sunday. The revival begins at 7 p.m. each night at the church located at 1523 Anthony St. For more information, call 985-518-0211.

Sheriff: Theft suspect resisted deputy

A Patterson man was charged with theft and resisting an officer after he tried to pull away from a deputy following a shoplifting complaint in Bayou Vista, St. Mary Parish Sheriff Scott Anslum said in a news release.

—Joseph Touchet Jr., 27, of Enterprise Boulevard in Patterson, was arrested at 1:14 p.m. Tuesday on charges of resisting an officer, theft and disturbing the peace intoxication.

A deputy responded to a call for service regarding shoplifting at a store in Bayou Vista. The deputy located the suspect inside the store. The suspect, later identified as Touchet, attempted to run out of the store, Anslum said. The deputy apprehended Touchet.

While being detained, Touchet attempted to pull away from the deputy multiple times, the sheriff said. During the subsequent investigation, the deputy located several stolen items in Touchet’s possession. The deputy also observed that Touchet showed signs of alcohol impairment, Anslum said. The deputy transported Touchet to parish jail for booking. Bail was set at $5,000.

Anslum reported that deputies responded to 30 complaints in the parish and reported the following arrests in east St. Mary Parish:

—Amber Montgomery, 27, of Fourth Street in Berwick, was arrested at 10:20 a.m. Tuesday on a warrant for failure to appear on charges of possession of amphetamine and possession of Subutex.

After learning of the warrant for her arrest, Montgomery turned herself in at the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office in Franklin. A deputy transported Montgomery to parish jail for booking. Bail was set at $5,000.

—A juvenile male, 15, of Bayou Vista, was arrested at 12:37 p.m. Tuesday on charges of simple burglary of a vehicle, attempted simple burglary of a vehicle and two counts of criminal trespass.

A deputy investigating the vehicle burglaries that occurred in Bayou Vista identified the juvenile as a suspect in the crimes. The deputy found evidence that the juvenile entered into two vehicles in the 500 block of David Road and stole items including a sunglasses case and cans of tobacco, Anslum said.

The deputy located the items at the juvenile’s home, the sheriff said. Following the investigation, the deputy released the juvenile to a guardian pending juvenile court proceedings.

Morgan City Police Chief James Blair reported that officers responded to 48 calls and reported the following arrests:

—Gilbert C. Howard, 48, of Youngs Road in Morgan City, was arrested at 10:11 a.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging him with theft less than $1,000.

Howard was located and arrested in the area of Spruce Street on a warrant. The warrant stems from an April 13 investigation when officers responded to an establishment in the area of La. 182. Howard allegedly took items from the store without paying for them, Blair said.

The investigation continued and a warrant was prepared for Howard’s arrest. Howard was jailed.

—Anthony J. Harris, 22, of Arizona Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 11:31 a.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging him with two counts of failure to appear for drug court and on a charge of possession of marijuana second offense.

Harris was located and arrested in the area of Seventh Street on a warrant for 16th Judicial District Court. When Harris was taken into custody, he was in possession of suspected marijuana, Blair said. Harris was jailed.

—Brian Robertson, 23, of Sixth Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 10:35 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging him with failure to appear for arraignment. Robertson was located and arrested in the area of La. 70 on a 16th Judicial District Court warrant. Robertson was jailed.

—Ernest N. Mingo, 34, of Federal Avenue in Morgan City, was arrested at 3:13 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of disturbing the peace intoxicated and a warrant charging him with failure to appear for arraignment.

Patrol officers encountered Mingo walking in the area of Everett Street. Mingo was in an intoxicated state, Blair said. Mingo had an arrest warrant through city court. Mingo was jailed.

Berwick Police Chief James Richard reported no arrests.

Patterson Police Chief Janis Merritt reported no arrests.

Ribbon-cutting for Space Walk

The Daily Review/Zachary Fitzgerald
The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting Friday for Space Walk of Morgan City. The ribbon cutting took place at Kemper Williams Park near Patterson. Owners are Martin and Gina DeHart.

West Feliciana comes back to defeat Patterson, 7-4

No. 8 West Feliciana outscored Patterson, 6-2, during the final five innings to overtake the Lumberjacks after an early Patterson lead en route to a 7-4 West Feliciana win in Class 3A first-round action in St. Francisville Tuesday.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the third, West Feliciana (16-17) scored runs courtesy of a passed ball and a two-run double to left field, all with no outs, before a two-out single to centerfield scored another run for a 5-3 West Feliciana lead.
West Feliciana scored a fourth-inning run when the base runner stole home, while in fifth, another run scored on a sacrifice fly.
Down 7-3 and facing its final three outs, Patterson (12-18) attempted to rally in the top of the seventh.
Dylan Fabre walked to lead off the seventh, while the next batter, Reid Perkins, reached base after he was hit by a pitch.
After a West Feliciana strikeout for the inning’s first out, the runners advanced to second and third when West Feliciana committed an error on a ball hit by Randy Paul, loading the bases with one out.
Fabre scored one batter later when Hayden Pinho grounded out to cut the West Feliciana lead to 7-4. Perkins and Paul moved to third and second base, respectively, on the play.
West Feliciana ended the threat one batter later when its reliever got a called third strike on the next batter, who represented the tying run, to end the game.
Early on, Patterson wasted no time getting on the score board as the Lumberjacks pushed two runs across in the first inning for a 2-0 lead.
West Feliciana scored its first run on a two-out triple to right field in the bottom of the second to cut its deficit to 2-1, while Pinho scored Patterson’s third run on an error in the top of the third to extend the Lumberjacks’ lead to 3-1.
Patterson only had one base runner in the next three innings after Jaylon Jennings was issued a two-out walk in the top of the sixth.
Joseph Larson suffered the loss. In three innings, he surrendered five runs (five earned) on six hits with one hit batter.
Offensively, Pinho led Patterson with a 1-for-4 performance with a double, an RBI and two runs, while Brandt Lightsey had two RBIs.
West Feliciana will continue postseason play when it hosts No. 9 Eunice in second-round action later this week.

Berwick routs Peabody, 12-0

Fourth-ranked Berwick looked the part Tuesday pummeling 29th-ranked Peabody, 12-0, in the Class 3A Bi-district round at Berwick.
The game was called in five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Berwick’s ace, Kyle Pitre, cruised through the Warhorse (12-20) batters en route to the win. He tossed three innings, allowing two first-inning baserunners on a walk and a hit by pitch with seven strikeouts.
“We had some real good pitching today,” Berwick first-year coach Brandon Bravata said. “I wanted to get our ace, Kyle Pitre, some work and get him in and out of there early, and we we’re able to do that with less than 40 pitches thrown,”
“That was the goal — get him in and get him out and make sure we didn’t take this game lightly,” Bravata added. “And, Zeph Hoffpauir threw really well in relief, too. We needed him to get some quality work just in case we need him going forward.”
Pitre and Hoffpauir combined for a no-hitter in the win.
The Panthers’ started hot and continued to light up the scoreboard.
Berwick pounded out 10 hits with 12 RBIs while hitting .477. Berwick took the lead with two runs in the first-inning Tuesday before adding a nine spot in the second and one run in the third.
“We have really swung it well all season,” Bravata said. “We’re in the mid-300’s, which is a really good high school average. I thought we had some good at-bats early on, and we were able to put them away early on, which is what you want to do in the early rounds of the playoffs, because you don’t want any team to hang-.”
Leading hitters for the Panthers were Brett Williams and Patrick Robertson, each 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Chad LaGrange was 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI, while Mitchell Sanford was 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs and a RBI. Lucas Hatch was 1-for-2 with a triple and an RBI, Hoffpauir was 1-for-2 with three RBIs and a run, Pitre was 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs, while Kyle Boudreaux had an RBI.
Berwick (23-8) moves on to the regional round of the state playoffs where it will host Jennings in a best-of-three series, beginning Friday and concluding Saturday. The teams will play at 6 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday, and if necessary, a third game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

CCHS to face Ascension Catholic in state tourney opener

Central Catholic High School senior shortstop Taylor Picou knows that she and the team’s other four seniors will conclude their high school careers this week at the Allstate Sugar Bowl/Louisiana High School Athletic Association Softball State Tournament in Sulphur.
She and her teammates also know that it is Central Catholic coach Joe Russo’s final week as the team’s head coach before retiring.
However, she said she and her team don’t feel any more pressure, actually more encouragement, to try to win a state softball title for the team and their coach.
Still, she agreed it would be a nice gift to send off their coach with for all that he has done for them.
“He works day and night on making us better, countless hours checking stats and just making sure we’re fully prepared, so it would definitely be a huge gift to him if we could bring him home another ring,” Picou said Tuesday after her final practice of her high school career at the team’s field at the Bayou Vista Community Center.
Picou and the rest of the No. 3-ranked Central Catholic Lady Eagles will start what they hope will be a three-game playoff run ending with a championship when they meet No. 6 Ascension Catholic Thursday at noon on Field 19 at Frasch Park in a Division IV quarterfinal contest.
Thursday’s appearance will mark the fifth time in the last six years the Lady Eagles (21-5) have advanced to the state tournament. It’s the second-straight appearance for the squad, which fell in the Division IV semifinals a year ago to top-ranked and eventual state runner-up Vermilion Catholic, 10-9, on a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh.
Russo said he is pleased with this year’s team’s results.
“These kids basically do whatever we ask them to do, and we just had a good year,” he said. “It’s been a great year.”
Meanwhile, Ascension Catholic (22-9) is making its sixth consecutive state tournament appearance. The Lady Bulldogs fell a year ago in the Division IV quarterfinals to top-ranked Vermilion Catholic, 10-5.
Ascension Catholic won the District 6-1A title with an 8-0 mark, while Central Catholic finished second in District 7-1A with a 10-2 record.
The teams have one common opponent this season, E.D. White, which both defeated.
Ascension Catholic qualified for the state tournament after knocking off No. 11 Opelousas Catholic, 4-2, in regional round action Friday in Donaldsonville.
“First of all, AC and OC, that game could have went either way,” Russo said. “We were there. We got (a) good, good scouting report. … I am 100 percent confident that we’re going to compete with AC.”
He noted that none of Ascension Catholic’s players struck out in their regional round contest.
“I saw some pretty good swings. … It looks like they have some kids that could be game-winners for them,” Russo said. “Their little pitcher did a decent job of pitching, but I just think if we play our ‘A’ game, we ought to be OK with it.”
Central Catholic enters the state tournament on a two-game winning streak, most recently run-ruling No. 14 Ecole Classique, 12-2, in five innings April 17, in the regional round of the Division IV playoffs to qualify for the state tournament.
Central Catholic pitcher Sara Thomas said it’s a different feeling as a senior going to Sulphur after going in previous years.
‘Us seniors, it is very different, because this is your last time playing, and you’ll never get this experience (again) because Sulphur is like the ‘Promised Land,’” she said. “It’s a big, big big accomplishment to get there. … I personally want to go out with a bang.”
Picou leads the team with a .550 batting average with 14 doubles, two triples and eight home runs. She has collected 37 RBIs, stolen 13 bases and scored 44 runs.
Kelly Russo is second on the team with a .449 batting average with three triples, 17 RBIs, five stolen bases and 20 runs, while Kaleigh Navarro is third with a .375 batting average with six doubles, one triple, 32 RBIs and 17 runs.
On the mound, Thomas has 15-5 mark. In 103.1 innings, she has surrendered 59 runs (45 earned) on 92 hits, with 28 walks and 51 strikeouts. She has a 3.05 ERA.

Rhythms on the River continues each Friday through June 1

Attendees to the April 13 Rhythms on the River dance while The Don Rich Band performs in downtown Morgan City. The springtime music series began April 6 and continues from 6:30-9:30 p.m. each Friday through June 1 on Front Street between Freret and Everett streets. Remaining performances include Dustin Sonnier, April 27; The Sideshow Band, May 4; Nik L Beer, May 11; Damon Troy & Final Five, May 18; Jamie Bergeron & The Kickin’ Cajuns, May 25; and Deja Vu, June 1. (The Daily Review/Zachary Fitzgerald)

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