Brandon Briuglio named August Athlete of the Month

NEW ORLEANS – Brandon Briuglio, from the New Orleans Boosters’ baseball program, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month for August, respectively. Monthly award-winners are chosen in voting by the Greater New Orleans Sports Award Selection Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Briuglio was named Most Valuable Player of the 2018 All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) National Tournament, hosted August 6-11 in Johnstown, Pa. He enjoyed a stellar week at the plate, batting .545 in six games with six runs in 22 at-bats, including 12 hits (5 singles, 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 grand slam) and 10 RBI. Briuglio’s bases-clearing triple in the second game gave the Boosters their first lead of the tournament as Briuglio closed the day 3-for-3 with two doubles, a triple, and two walks. On Wednesday, his grand slam extended the gap to give the Boosters a 10-4 lead in an eventual mercy rule decision over Brooklyn.

New Orleans fell to Johnstown 3-2 in the AAABA championship game to give the host city its first-ever AAABA Title in the tournament’s 74-year history. 2018 marked the New Orleans franchise’s 27th appearance in an AAABA Tournament final and third appearance in the last four championship games. The Boosters captured their 15th national title in 2017. New Orleans made its first AAABA Tournament appearance in 1946.

As a perk of Briuglio’s selection as Most Valuable Player, his name will join his tournament MVP predecessors in being engraved on the AAABA display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Briuglio prepped at Jesuit High School and is entering his sophomore season at Delgado Community College.

Xavier volleyball star Kayla Black was also in contention for the August honor. A sophomore, Black keyed a 4-2 month of August for the Gold Nuggets. In six August matches, she had 87 kills, 72 digs, seven aces, six blocks and hit .267. Black was named Gulf Coast Athletic Conference preseason co-Player of the Year, GCAC Attacker of the Week for Aug. 20-26 and all-tournament at the Mid-South Crossover Challenge in Bowling Green, Ky., an event which saw Xavier defeat No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan – the program’s first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Selection Committee has been selecting an Amateur Athlete of the Month each month since 1957. The athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region in order to be eligible. Each of the monthly award winners will be honored in the summer at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.