Jesuit’s Zack Casebonne earns New Orleans Athlete of the Month honor for May

NEW ORLEANS – Zack Casebonne, the senior catcher from Jesuit High School’s state championship baseball team, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for May. Monthly award-winners are selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month

Casebonne keyed the Blue Jays’ run to the LHSAA Division I state baseball championship in May. The senior belted a sixth-inning grand slam to supply the needed offense in a 6-1 championship game victory over Byrd on May 15. Two days earlier, the catcher had delivered the game-winning hit in the ninth-inning of a 4-3 semifinal thriller against John Curtis. Jesuit finished the year with a 31-6 record as it won its 21st all-time state baseball championship and its first since 2011. Casebonne, who earned all-district honors this year, hit .391 with a .690 slugging percentage, including 12 doubles, three triples and two home runs. He will attend Dartmouth to play baseball in the fall.

Casebonne earned the monthly honor over four other outstanding Crescent City standouts.

• Belle Chasse track star Loudon Boudreaux was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the LHSAA Class 4A Outdoor Track & Field Championships after winning the 1,600-meter run (4:30.39) and the 3,200-meter run (9:54.24) while recording a personal record for the 800 (1:58.50) when he ran the anchor leg for his schools’ winning 4×800 relay team which set a state Class 4A record with a time of 8:05.28. He also added a third-place finish in the individual 800-meter run (1:59.11).
• Junior Cody Branch led the Dillard University track and field team to a gold medal in the 4×100 relay at the NAIA National Championships on May 28 in Gulf Shores, Ala. Branch and relay teammates James Pennington, Kaleb McClendon, and Willie McAulley posted a time of 40.69 seconds to win the national championship, Dillard’s first since at least 1999. The time was also a Dillard school record in the event. Branch also finished ninth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.38 seconds and 12th overall in the 400 at 48.78 seconds.
• Senior Angela Charles-Alfred helped Xavier reach the NAIA semifinals for the third consecutive time. In four May dual matches, she was 4-0 in doubles and 3-1 in singles. Charles-Alfred finished the season 20-5 in singles and 28-4 in doubles as she earned First Team All-America honors. She closed her Xavier career by winning her final 20 doubles decisions and 15 of her last 16 in singles. In the final ITA NAIA national rankings, she was No. 11 in singles and No. 2 in doubles. The Gold Nuggets were 3-1 in May, defeating No. 8 LSU-Alexandria and — at nationals — No. 14 Lindsey Wilson and No. 7 Union (Ky.) before a 4-3 semifinal loss to No. 2 Keiser. Xavier finished the season at No. 3 in all four of Charles-Alfred’s seasons.
• In four playoff games for Jesuit High School, Holden Hess was simply terrific at the plate and on the mound as Jesuit went on to win the Division I state championship. At the plate, Hess was 5-for-15 (.333) with a double and a team-best six RBI. On the mound, Hess pitched in two games, going 1-0 with a 0.50 ERA, including a shutout victory over rival Archbishop Rummel in the quarterfinals. In 14 innings, Hess allowed just one earned run on eight hits while striking out seven. In the state semifinal game, a 4-3 win over district rival John Curtis Christian in nine innings, Hess pitched seven innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out six.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards 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.