Five Brother Martin seniors make college choices official

NEW ORLEANS – In his time as a high school and now a college baseball coach, Doug Faust has watched dozens of players gather with their families and announce their decisions as to where they will head to college.

On Wednesday, the shoe was on the other foot for Faust, whose son Brady was among five Brother Martin senior student-athletes to participate in a fall signing ceremony on the Gentilly campus.

Brady Faust is headed to the University of Southern Mississippi.

Also confirming their intentions Wednesday were cross country runners Hunter Appleton (Colorado) and Cameron Johnson (Loyola), wrestler Patrick Evans (Virginia) and lacrosse player Jacob Bodino (Montevallo).

Faust hit .352 with 13 RBI and 11 stolen bases as a junior. He was also a wide receiver for the Crusaders football team, catching the game-winning touchdown pass in the waning seconds of Brother Martin’s victory over Bastrop.

Appleton – who is headed to a Colorado program that finished fourth in the NCAA Championships last month – was the Class 5A individual state champion last month over a muddy course at Northwestern State University as the Crusaders finished in second place in the team competition.

Last spring, Appleton scored 18 points for Brother Martin in the state outdoor track meet, winning the 3200 meters and finishing second in the 1600.

Evans won the 145-pound state championship as a junior as the Crusaders captured the state Division I crown. He entered his final season with a career record of 110-19.

Bodino was an all-district goalkeeper as a junior.