Top five sports stories of 2015

There were numerous local sports accomplishments in 2015, but here are the top five stories reprinted from their orginal published Eunice News editions:
Bengals win fifth title
June 4
ENID, Oklahoma – Their backs were against the wall after losing to Western Oklahoma State College earlier in the NJCAA Division II World Series.
After a 16-14 marathon win over UCONN-Avery Point that lasted to nearly five hours on Thursday, LSU Eunice had to beat Western twice on Saturday.
It took resolve and determination as well a strong defense combined with timely hitting to lift the Bengals to two wins over Western as LSU Eunice won their fifth baseball national championship.
The Bengals trailed 10-1 against the Pioneers in the fourth inning before LSU Eunice began a remarkable comeback to grab a 14-12 win to force the winner-take-all finale.
Western Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first of the finale, but the Bengals then exploded for 16 unanswered runs as LSU Eunice cruised to the title win.
Bengal sophomore David Scott LaFleur was named the tournament MVP and also earned Eltite Hitter of the tournament.
LaFleur hit .391 over the six games, had nine RBI, seven walks and slammed six home runs including three against Western on Saturday.
Ben Braymer was named Most Valuable Pitcher as he grabbed two wins and finished with a 0.56 ERA, including 18 strikeouts and just three walks over 16 innings.
Also named to the All-Tournament team were Sam Walley, Madison Nickens and Steven Sensley.
Walley pitched in three games and finished with a 1.86 ERA with 13 strikeouts and two walks.
Walley also hit .375 while playing first base, including two home runs.
Nickens hit .360 with 10 RBI, four doubles, seven walks and a home run.
Sensley hit .321 for the tournament with 10 RBI, three home runs and four walks.
LSU Eunice head coach Jeff Willis was named Coach of the Year for the fifth time as the Bengal coach.
The Bengals battled the entire week for wins over Scottsdale Community College (5-4) and Kellogg (8-1) before the 10-inning loss to Western Oklahoma (5-2) and the 13-inning marathon victory over UCONN (16-14).
The Bengals also won the championship in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

State
runners-up
May 17
SULPHUR – The Blue Jays had lost five straight games heading into the Class 1-A baseball playoffs.
St. Edmund then won four in a row to advance to the state championship game.
The Blue Jays’ dream season ended with a 12-0 loss to Ouachita Christian.
No. 7 St. Edmund (20-12) rolled into the championship game with a 8-1 win over No. 6 Central Catholic of Morgan City (26-4) in the semifinal contest.
St. Edmund’s last semifinal win was a 9-2 romp past St. John’s in 2001.
That year, the Blue Jays finished state runners-up in a 2-1 loss to Oak Grove under head coach Scott Rider.

New field for Lady Jays
March 5
The rains washed away St. Edmund’s scheduled softball season opener, but it could not dampen the enthusiasm present at Monday’s dedication of the new Lady Jay Field.
Msgr. Robert Romero reminded the team that athletic competition allows them to develop their talents and skills as well as teaching discipline and life lessons.
St. Edmund principal Sister Joel Miller along with Eunice Mayor Rusty Moody and other city officials joined Romero and the team in the ribbon cutting.
After decades of playing softball on city-owned fields, the process began last June 19 when a group gathered for a groundbreaking and prayer dedication.
Project director Brad Miller along with volunteers then constructed the Lady Jay field located next to the football stadium.

Eunice wins track and
basketball parish titles
April 9
PRAIRIE RONDE – The Eunice Lady Bobcats won their third straight St. Landry Parish track title at Northwest High, while Opelousas repeated as the boys champion.
A few weeks later, it was a great run for the Eunice girls track team as the Lady Cats earned their fourth straight district title at the Crowley High athletic complex.
Eunice High has now won seven district titles under the leadership of head coach Durell Peloquin.
The St. Edmund Lady Jays won their second straight District 5-1A track title.In December, the Eunice Bobcats captured the boys basketball parish chamionship with a 48-45 win over the Port Barre Red Devils.

Trosclair fights to stay on field
June 28
Heading into his 21st season as the head football coach at Eunice High, Paul Trosclair has celebrated historic victories and helped his teams recover from dissapointing losses.
But this season, the veteran coach has a different perspective after battling to recover from multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is a relatively uncommon cancer that starts in the plasma cells in the bone marrow.
Light chain deposition disease is a rare blood cell disease which is characterized by deposition of fragments of infection-fighting immunoglobulins, called light chains in the body.
LCs are normally cleared by the kidneys, but in LCDD, these light chain deposits damage organs and cause disease.
Early in his battle, Trosclair earned his 200th career win in the season opener against Northwest (28-21).
The Bobcats struggled with just three more wins as Eunice High finished with a 4-6 record before their coach began his treatments at M.D. Anderson in Houston.
After four months of treatments and the conclusion of the 2014 football season, Trosclair went to Houston for the stem cell transplant.
Trosclair’s own stem cells were removed from his bone marrow and stored until they were needed for the transplant.
When the cancer cells were killed, the stored stem cells were infused back into his blood.
He continued on coaching through the process and the Bobcats went 10-2 this football season including a 5-0 run to win the District 4-3A championship.