Gauthier Amedee looks to add to southeast Louisiana tradition by reaching Legion final

After three one-run victories in pool play, Gonzales-based Gauthier Amedee will look to add its name to a long list of American Legion teams from southeast Louisiana to play for a national title.

Gauthier Amedee – which features players from several Ascension Parish schools – meets Las Vegas in the second semifinal Monday at 6 p.m. CDT, following the other semifinal matching Midland, Michigan, and Wilmington, Delaware, at 3 p.m. Both games will be televised by ESPNU.

https://crescentcitysports.mystagingwebsite.com/gauthier-and-amadee-edges-iowa-wins-pool-at-american-legion-world-series/

With pool play concluded, the tournament now goes to a single-elimination format. Monday’s winners meet for the championship at 6 p.m. Tuesday, also on ESPNU.

A win by Gauthier Amedee Monday night would mark the 13th time a Louisiana team has played for the Legion national title.

Five Louisiana teams have won the American Legion World Series, all from the New Orleans area. Seven other times, a Louisiana team lost in the final, including the Gonzales entry in 1996, Athletic Center.

The most recent champion was six years ago, when Jesuit-based Retif Oil, led by the arm of Emerson Gibbs, claimed the title. Six years prior to that, Archbishop Rummel-based Nationwide Restoration won the championship.

Retif reached the final in 2015, losing to Chapin-Newberry, South Carolina, in the title game.

The Gonzales appearance in 1996 in Roseburg, Oregon, snapped a 36-year drought in the championship game for Louisiana. Athletic Center was led by future Olympic gold medalist and MLB all-star pitcher Ben Sheets, who pitched in the championship game.

Athletic Center and Yardley, Pennsylvania, were tied 2-2 after six innings before Yardley broke through against Sheets for three runs in the seventh. Yardley added a run in the eighth and though Athletic Center brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, Yardley closed out a 6-3 victory.

A list of Louisiana teams to reach the American Legion national championship game (research by Nico Van Thyn and Richard Cuicchi):

American Legion National Champions
1932 — Zatarain Papooses (New Orleans)
1946 — Jesuit (New Orleans)
1960 — Tulane Shirts (New Orleans-Jesuit)
2006 — Nationwide Restoration (Metairie-Archbishop Rummel)
2012 — Retif Oil (New Orleans-Jesuit)

American Legion National Runners-Up
1929 — New Orleans White Sox
1930 — Sizeler Brothers (New Orleans)
1934 — Jesuit (New Orleans)
1937 — Alvin T. Stumpf (Gretna)
1956 — LaRocca (New Orleans)
1996 — Athletic Center (Gonzales)
2015 — Retif Oil (New Orleans-Jesuit)