By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Lutcher won District 9-3A this season, while district rival St. Charles made it all the way to the state championship game. The success of each school is reflected on the Class 3A All-State baseball team.

St. Charles’ Marc Picciola and Corey Reed and Lutcher’s Joey Bourgeois and Jordan Hymel all have been selected to the 2008 squad.

Picciola and Reed were each instrumental in the Comets run to the championship game, a run that ended at the hands of Parkview.

It is Picciola’s second selection to the team at second base, after making it in his freshman year. Now a sophomore, he was on fire to finish the season, batting .555 in the postseason, where he also went 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA on the mound. For the season, he hit .380 with 32 RBIs.

Picciola began the season with an arm injury that kept him from pitching, but when he was called upon in the season’s last month, he delivered, not losing a single start.

“He was a big reason that we went as far as we did,” said St. Charles Coach Paul Waguespack. “To be selected in back to back years, that’s a big honor for him.”

Meanwhile, Reed, a senior, has been selected for the first time. In a lineup full of big bats, his was the biggest this season. He hit .431 to go along with eight home runs and 45 RBIs.

Reed played second and third base for St. Charles, and also pitched out of the bullpen. He hit second for St. Charles, and paired with teammate Alex Marse atop the order, ensured the heart of the St. Charles order always had runners to drive in.

“I’m excited for him to make it,” said St. Charles Coach Paul Waguespack. “He was the best player we had this season. He had to sit out a season ago, so this season was vindication for him. He led us all year.”

Bourgeois and Hymel led Lutcher to the top seed in Class 3A entering the postseason after notching a 25-6 regular season record. Despite a disappointing second round exit, not much could diminish the seasons that each player had.

It is Bourgeois’s second selection to the team, and Hymel’s first.

Bourgeois, a senior pitcher who has signed with LSU-Eunice, quickly established himself as the team’s most dominant starter by year’s end, finishing the season with a 5-2 record.

“Joey’s improved every single year since he’s been here,” said Lutcher Coach Davey Clement. “He was throwing 82-83 as a sophomore, then 86-87, and now 90-91. He worked very, very hard this year, and he’s going to a real good college.”

Hymel, a junior first baseman, was a key cog in an explosive Lutcher offense, hitting .465 for a team that blistered through district play, averaging almost 10 runs a game in 9-3A play.

“He was one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached,” said Clement. “He’s going to make some coach at the next level very happy, from the way he plays to the way he conducts his personal life.”

St. Charles’ Jonathan Cancienne and Alex Marse each recieved honorable mention.