Tristyn Baugh from Archbishop Hannan Named New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for April

NEW ORLEANS – Ace pitcher Tristyn Baugh, from the state champion Archbishop Hannan softball team, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for April. Monthly award-winners are selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Due to an injured knee, Baugh hadn’t pitched in back-to-back games since March, but with Hannan making a bid for its third straight state championship, the junior pitcher rose to the occasion. In the Division II state championship game against top-seeded Haynes Academy on April 30, Baugh pitched a no-hitter, walking two and striking out seven in a 3-0 victory as she was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship game. In the semifinals on April 29, Baugh had pitched Hannan to a 3-2 win over Vandebilt Catholic, allowing two runs and five hits, while walking just one and striking out eight. For the month of April, Baugh went 7-0 with a 2.56 ERA, striking out 39 batters in 43 innings pitched with just seven walks.

Baugh earned the honor over another softball ace, a pair of tennis standouts, and a red-hot hitting baseball player.

Carina Chargois had an outstanding April for the Xavier University of Louisiana softball team. The right-handed freshman from Kaplan, La., posted a 7-1 record with a 1.06 earned-run average. In 53 innings, she allowed 43 hits and just eight earned runs while striking out 29. In the final six starts of the regular season, she was 5-1 with a 0.36 ERA, including six complete games and three shutouts. On the final day of the regular season, she tossed a seven-inning shutout of NCAA Division I Southern.

Only a sophomore, Mandeville High School’s Natalie Devraj dominated the Division I girls’ tennis state bracket for a second consecutive year in winning the state singles title April 29 at ULM. In the 32-player draw, Devraj lost a total of three games in her first four match wins before taking a 6-2, 7-6 victory over Ella Mancuso of St. Joseph’s Academy to repeat as state champion. She has already reached three state finals in her young career; as a seventh grader in 2019 while competing at Episcopal of Baton Rouge, she reached the Division IV finals.

Throughout the month of April, Tulane sophomore Ethan Groff has carried a hot bat. The 6-0, 200-pound slugger batted .391 (29-for-74) with six home runs, two doubles, a triple and 24 runs scored in 18 April games. Despite potentially suffering a season-ending injury, he still paces the American Athletic Conference in hitting (.404), runs scored (49), doubles (15) and on-base percentage (.503).

Max Heinzel, a sophomore from Germany, led UNO to its first Southland Conference men’s tennis championship in April. The Privateers posted a 4-3 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the championship match as Heinzel, playing at No. 1 singles, clinched the victory with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 decision over Pascal Lorieul. Heinzel was the overall MVP of the Southland Tournament as he also posted wins in singles and doubles in the semifinals against Incarnate Word – he dominated Incarnate Word’s No. 1 player, 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals.

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.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 100 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 20 Heisman Trophy winners in its 88-year history. The 89th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will feature top teams from the SEC and the Big 12, is scheduled to be played on December 31, 2022. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.2 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.