If your current security team’s primary strategy is to “observe and report,” you are essentially paying for a professional witness.

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By Edwin Crayton/Opinion

I believe it’s only fair to start this article with a disclaimer. Here goes. DISCLAIMER: This article does not concern the actions of citizens who in February, applied to be on the board of the Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF). They acted properly by applying for open seats. They have not done anything wrong. However, this article does concern the actions of current board members who held an election on February 19. I do mean to say, they did some very wrong things in how they conducted the so called “election” of board members.

In case you’re wondering what NCIF is and why you should care, here’s why it matters to you. The Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF), is a community organization that distributes settlement money awarded when in the late 1990s, Tennessee Gas Company was involved with a pcb spill in Sibley Lake, the city’s drinking water supply. The court ordered that the money be given to the people of City of Natchitoches, in the form of grants and scholarships and distributed in four areas: education, recreation, housing and economic development/seed money for grants. In 2003, NCIF became the organization that was given the task of doing this. But NCIF often got bogged down in controversy. On the last board, several members overstayed their terms and had to be removed by a district judge in 2023. They were replaced by the current board which has also become bogged down in controversy. Recently, a certified public accountant reported that $22,345 in cash withdrawals were unaccounted for. That money is money from the settlement. In short, these funds are for you.

The election was not legitimate for several reasons. Here are the main ones:

• Although the election was advertised as a public meeting, some people who showed up were turned away at the door. I know because I was one of them. So was a lady who showed up at the same time.  I was able to get in only after showing NCIF President Harold Bayonne, the announcement advertising the election and pointing out that it was advertised as a quarterly meeting, which means the public can attend. I have heard of one additional person who was told the meeting was not open to the public. I wonder if other people were discouraged from attending?
• The meeting did not have a quorum. There were seven members present: Harold Bayonne, Deborah Roque, Gwen Rachal, Ernestine Armstrong, Kevin Stafford, Linda Franklin and Ernest Sawyer. It’s a 15-member board. The bylaws say you must have a majority to conduct business. Seven is not a majority. You need Eight. The election was not legitimate and needs to be done over. What if they had someone on the phone? Doesn’t matter. The bylaws signed by Judge Eric Harrington who approved them in 2014 say you cannot participate by phone at a quarterly meeting Section 3:12 reads: “telephonic conference or similar telecommunications device shall be permitted for specially called meetings, but not for quarterly meetings”. This was a quarterly meeting.
• The election itself was held in secret, making it virtually impossible to know if it was conducted fairly with checks and balances. Members of the public were asked to step outside while the election took place. I later asked Chairman Bayonne why they did that. He said there was no special reason. Then why did they do it? In the past NCIF like most organizations I know, allowed the public to watch the election. What’s the big secret? Yet, it’s one more way they freeze the people of Natchitoches out of funds designated for the people.
• The announcements for the election I saw did not have time and location. Perhaps they had one that did have it, but I couldn’t find one. This made it hard for the public to participate. I pulled out one particularly bad one and showed it to Bayonne. It was in a local paper’s community calendar and it just said, “February 19, NCIF quarterly meeting”. I pointed out to Mr. Bayonne that many people don’t know what NCIF is and that the announcement did not say where and what time the meeting was going to be held. His response? He said, “Everyone knows what NCIF is.” Dear reader, I would not be surprised if you didn’t know before you read this article. And even those who did know, would still like to know where the meeting is and at what time.
• As I mentioned earlier, NCIF was created to get settlement money to the people of Natchitoches. All the people who apply for grants, scholarships, etc. Yet, to be honest, it seems it has become like a private club. Many of the people serving on the board, old and new are related or friends, or connected in some way. When you combine that with these issues of lack of transparency and unaccounted for withdrawals, it’s not hard to start to feel that this board is not really open to the general public. This election did not really make these board seats available to all citizens. It also needs to make these funds more accessible to the citizens of Natchitoches. How do people get the funds for their projects? Let them know NCIF.  Recently, Judge Jimmie Peters suspended their ability to spend money. He gave spending authority to a master appointed by the court. That’s good and I hope he doesn’t lift it while this group is serving because they have not held themselves accountable. Dear Chairman Bayonne: Harry Truman had a sign on this desk that said, “The buck stops here.” That means he accepted responsibility for what happened on his watch. So, should you, Chairman Bayonne and all of the NCIF board members. This election should be re done. It was a non-election. Not legitimate. Sorry nominees.

Ironically, the key words in all of this are right there in the name of the organization. I am referring to the words “community improvement” The blunt truth is, Natchitoches needs these funds to help improve itself. Money Inc’s website picked Natchitoches as one of the 10 worst places to live in Louisiana. Among the reasons, they cited poverty and lack of family activities, which are both areas these funds are supposed to fund. In both the plan of allocation and bylaws, NCIF is supposed to offer citizens grants or scholarships in economic development and recreation—which would give families more activities to participate in.  Think of all the good that citizens will experience when we remove the bottlenecks and make this money begin to flow. But first we have to manage these funds right and get all of the money into the hands of the citizens of Natchitoches. The proposals and requests need to come from ordinary citizens and need to be the top priority for NCIF. After all, the settlement money was designated for them. Improving their lives was the whole idea when Judge Harrington signed the original judgement. And I believe it’s what Judge Peters wants now. But let’s be real. We need to stop the hemorrhaging of money first.

It has become obvious that the public will have to get involved and not be stopped at the door. Attend meetings. Check local papers. NCIF should be required to educate the public about how to access this money. We need an investigation into the unaccounted for $22,345. If you are a person who can and will act on at least one of the above recommendations, please do so. This money was meant for you and your community or neighborhood. But you will have to speak up. Last count I saw between 2 and 3 million in the foundation’s bank account.  $22,345 is already unaccounted for. What’s next? If you don’t spend your money, these guys will. Do you really want to just sit back and let that happen?

“Let everything be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” -James 4:17

Go to church Sunday and invite a friend or neighbor. God bless you.

Note: in a previous article on NCIF the word “ballots” should have been “nominations”.

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Notice is hereby given that the Natchitoches Parish School board will receive the following:

April 20, 2026 10 a.m. NPSB Child Nutrition Program RFP 26-27-1:Food

Bid/proposals will be accepted until the date and time specified and will be publicly opened and read aloud on April 20, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in the School Board’s Central Office, 310 Royal Street Natchitoches, LA 71457-5709.

Please find bid-related documents and place electronic bids, if desired, at WWW.CENTRALBIDDING.COM.

For questions relating to the electronic bidding process please call Central Bidding at 225-810-4814.
Bid/proposals received after the date and time of opening will not be considered. Facsimile transmissions will not be considered.  Additional information may be obtained upon request by contacting Michelle Delmery at Michelle.Delmery@npsb.la or 318-352-2358 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids.

3/18/26, 3/20/26, 3/23/26

NPSB Notice of Advertising for Bid Signed letter.

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By BRAD WELBORN, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director

Twenty years later, the shot, the celebration and the bond between teammates still feel as real as ever for the members of Northwestern State’s 2006 NCAA Tournament team.

Players, coaches and staff from one of the most iconic teams in a century-plus of program history gathered with an enthusiastic audience of supporters and curious fans Tuesday night at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest History Museum to relive the Demons’ unforgettable buzzer-beating upset of 15^th-ranked Iowa in the NCAA Tournament, sharing stories about the moment that stunned the college basketball world along with the brotherhood that made it possible.

For head coach Mike McConathy, the night served as a reminder that the foundation for that historic run was built long before the Demons ever stepped onto the floor in Auburn Hills, Mich., on St. Patrick’s Day 2006.

“The highlight video for that season began with a locker room scene from four years earlier, after we won our first league game with 11 freshmen, when I told them if they stayed together, they could be a great team. We really believed in them,” McConathy said. “Those young men stayed together, and we added pieces along the way. Their sophomore year we got a little bit better, competed and made the conference tournament. Then the next year it all began to click and come together.”

That commitment to each other became a common theme throughout the evening, as players Byron Allen (one of those 2002-03 freshmen) and J.A. Anglin (a freshman in 2005-06, now head coach at Centenary) reflected on how the relationships they built during their time in Natchitoches helped propel them to history and has lasted long after their playing days.

“We basically told each other (as freshmen, and the country’s youngest team for two years) that we would stay together regardless of any outside noise, anybody trying to tear us apart,” Allen said. “Coach may not know it, but everything he was trying to make us do made all of us great fathers, great husbands and everything else. It was sacrifice, and that sacrifice helped a lot of us go on to do big things.”

Players from the 2005-06 team have produced seven active head coaches, three in college and four in high school, along with other successful careers outside the game of basketball. Allen, a Mississippi native who played eight seasons professionally overseas, now runs and owns an engineering business in south Louisiana.

“That’s what every coach desires for his players,” McConathy said. “To see them go on and be productive and successful in life.”

Of course, after tracing the development of a team tabbed “The Demons of Destiny” over their four years at NSU, the conversation eventually turned to March 17, 2006, when as a No. 14 Midwest Region seed, they shocked third-seeded Iowa. The Demons’ depth – McConathy routinely subbed in five-for-five and played a dozen or more Demons – and the resulting relentless pressure defense combined to erase a 17-point deficit with less than eight minutes remaining and produced one of the most memorable finishes in NCAA Tournament history.

Longtime radio voice Patrick Netherton recalled a game from four months earlier when the Demons erased a similar deficit (21 points) on the road at Mississippi State to beat the Bulldogs as the moment he knew this team was special.

“He’s the point guard. He’s the guy that’s supposed to be in charge of breaking the press, and he wanted nothing to do with it,” Netherton said of Mississippi State’s high school all-American point guard in that game. “When I saw that, I thought, this is not just a team that can beat you physically, they can beat you mentally, and they can beat you emotionally. They can wear you down.”

After two seasons of playing strong non-conference schedules with some near misses and a few upset wins, and capturing two straight Southland Conference regular-season titles, the Demons entered the 2006 Big Dance confident they were capable of more than just making an appearance.

“We just went about it as business as usual,” McConathy said. “We knew we had something special, and we needed to stay locked in on what we did best. I always said you go to the NCAA Tournament to try to win games. If your goal is only to get there, you’re not as focused as you need to be. Our mindset was that we were going to win.”

Allen said his role that day at the Palace of Auburn Hils reflected the team’s unselfish approach.

“I knew that game wasn’t going to be me leading from a scoring standpoint,” he said. “It was going to be defense and bringing everybody together. We pressured guys, we got turnovers, and the rest is history.”

The defining moment came in the final seconds, when Jermaine Wallace grabbed an offensive rebound and knocked down the 22-foot corner jumper in the final second to give Northwestern the 64-63 win.

Anglin said the play was the result of habits built over years of practice that he took part in that season and heard about from the veteran players.

“We used to do drills where we were always crashing through the elbows and going after offensive rebounds,” Anglin said. “When Kerwin (Forges) took that shot, Jermaine did what he had practiced for four years.

“He crashed through the elbow, got the rebound and hit the shot. I had a clear view on the bench from the baseline and when it left his hand, I thought, ‘That’s going in.’ It’s what you dream about as a kid. In that moment, it’s as good as it gets.”

The Demons also leaned on big plays in their comeback from a 54-37 deficit in the last eight minutes, including four 3-pointers from Clifton Lee and a momentum-shifting dunk that McConathy still laughs about.

“He left from about inside the free-throw line and dunked it, even though he couldn’t jump over a piece of paper,” McConathy joked. “I’m thinking, ‘no, you’re not going to do that.’ But he had enough in him, and that lifted everybody’s spirits.”

As much as the team accomplished on the floor, McConathy said the support from the Natchitoches community played a major role in making the moment, and the 26-8 season, special.

“The people here in Natchitoches were so important to what we did,” he said. “They stayed with us and encouraged us through a lot of bad basketball (in 2002-04) to get to that point. That’s what made it fun, because the people in this town supported us, and we’re grateful for that.”

Former director of athletics Greg Burke said the significance of the win has only grown with time, both for the program and for the fans who still celebrate it each year.

“There’s a lot of schools like us that may never experience something like that,” Burke said. “So to keep embracing it year after year on March 17 is really special.”

Two decades later, the memories remain vivid, the relationships remain strong and the moment that put Northwestern State Demons basketball on the national stage continues to connect a team, a university, a community and the entire basketball world – except, McConathy good-naturedly noted, for those Iowa fans.

Contact Brad at welbornb@nsula.edu

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NEW ORLEANS – A two-game road trip was cut in half Tuesday when recent heavy rains in the Baton Rouge area forced postponement of a game at Southern, leaving the Northwestern State baseball team southbound for tonight’s visit to Tulane.

Inadequate field conditions on the grass surface at Southern’s Lee-Hines Field stalled the NSU-Southern contest.

The Demons-Jaguars matchup has been rescheduled for April 22 in Baton Rouge. Southern’s low-lying field not far from the Mississippi River was left unplayable because of severe weather that hit south Louisiana on Sunday. 

The Demons were already southbound when the decision was made, and with a game tonight at Tulane, their road trip continued.

Northwestern (13-7) carries a six-game win streak into tonight’s game at Tulane (9-11). First pitch Is set for 6:30 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.

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“Are you finding it harder to set and enforce rules around your children’s screen time and social media use? How do you balance keeping them safe while giving them enough freedom to learn responsibility?”

 See what Ida says 

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She was sipping a wonderful espresso, sitting outside in Paris at Les Deux Magots, leafing through the International Herald Tribune newspaper on a cool Saturday morning, March 18, 2006.

Sue Weaver turned the page and suddenly gasped. There was a picture of her friend Karen Terrell, back across the pond, standing and grinning amid a cheering crowd in an arena, holding up a sign with purple and orange lettering.

It read, “Cinderella Wears Purple!”

A day earlier, March Madness honed in on the Northwestern State Demons basketball team, creating a buzz that still won’t fade away.

Tonight, precisely 20 years later, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum at 800 Front Street in Natchitoches is hosting an anniversary event commemorating that St. Patrick’s Day surprise.

The 14^th seeded NSU Demons 64, No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes, champions of the Big Ten Conference Tournament, the 15^th ranked team in all the land, 63.

Tonight’s gathering starts at 6 o’clock, with a roundtable discussion tipping off a little after 6:30 including the now-iconic retired Demons’ coach Mike McConathy, players and team personnel, with audience participation encouraged.

Karen will be there, with her “Cinderella Wears Purple” sign. Other keepsakes will be shared and displayed, and guests will enjoy revisiting photos and video from that fabled Friday midday first-round upset.

Admission cost tonight? It’s free. That’s appropriate because when March Madness produces Cinderellas, they belong to all of us. The Final Four is almost always for blue-bloods only, but the inevitable stunners along the way, the bracket busters, make everybody but the losing team happy.

That was the vibe March 17, 2006 inside The Palace of Auburn Hills. On hand to share the contest with America was the already legendary CBS announcing crew of “Uncle” Verne Lundquist and Bill Rafterty. Lundquist’s wife Nancy had visited Natchitoches regularly as a Lincoln-Mercury regional rep, so Verne didn’t need a pronunciation primer and knew about small north Louisiana towns like Heflin and Boyce that produced the young men whose purple jerseys didn’t have their names on the back.

Vital note: low seeds from the one-bid leagues have a couple of advantages unique to the NCAA Tournament. The games are played on neutral courts. There are eight teams at every first-round site, and although the higher seeded teams almost always have more fans in the stands, the supporters of the other teams, and the casual fans there for spectacle, are hoping heavyweights fall.

When it seems possible, suddenly the brand name team finds most of the crowd is cheering for the other guys. It hardly seemed feasible with 8:29 remaining and the Hawkeyes in control, 54-37 – unless you remembered how NSU erased an 18-4 Iowa lead with a 17-2 run in the first half.

Unless you knew how the Demons had come from 20 down at halftime to win in overtime at Mississippi State three months earlier. Unless you had watched the team develop its trademark, huge lopsided runs, throughout a 25-7 season that included unlikely wins at Oklahoma State and over Oregon State. Even their losses went down to the wire.

Unless you recalled that more than one prominent college basketball analyst predicted a Northwestern win. A couple picked the Demons into the Sweet 16. One had them going to the Elite Eight. Point being, the “Demons of Destiny,” as tagged by radio play-by-play man Patrick Netherton, had the goods.

They did. On a dime … several dimes, actually, from shooting guard Luke Rogers and point guards Tyrone Mitchell and Keenan Jones. Big Mo turned Northwestern’s way as “Big Smooth,” forward Clifton Lee,  made Iowa “Fear the Fro.” He had one, and everybody noticed as he drained four 3-pointers and poured in 16 points in a 20-6 burst. Suddenly it was a one-possession game with two minutes left. Other than the black and gold Hawkeye fans, everybody else in the Palace was purple with excitement.

To find its place in the magic of March Madness, the game needed the finish it got – a 22-foot fallaway 3-pointer by senior Jermaine Wallace, over Iowa’s Adam Haluska, from the left corner, dropping through with half a second left.

The outcome was ranked No. 22 among the “25 Best Tourney Moments” in the past 25 years by SI.com editors. ESPN.com editors listed Wallace’s shot among the “Top 16 Game Ending Plays” in the last 30 years of NCAA tournament history. The winning play won the Pontiac Game Changing Performance award for that year’s tournament. Fan voting resulted in a $105,000 general scholarship donation by General Motors/Pontiac to Northwestern – students, not athletes, graduate each year thanks to that financial aid.

Footage was used in a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial a few years ago. It was scripted into an episode of CBS’s “The Young and the Restless” soap opera as a bit of snazzy cross promotion of the network’s March Madness coverage.

How special was it, really? As he made his retirement rounds in 2017, Lundquist was asked to rank his favorite tournament games over 40+ years at midcourt wearing a headset.

His top choice was obvious: 1992 Duke-Kentucky, the top two East Regional seeds, won by the Blue Devils 104-103 on the Christian Laettner buzzer-beater off Grant Hill’s 75-foot inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds to go in overtime.

Uncle Verne’s Number 2: NSU 64, Iowa 63. When he got back to the hotel that night, after calling three subsequent games, he called Nancy, as always. She asked, “Honey, did the team from Natchitoches win?”

Those memories will bubble up again tonight, as they always do, not only around this neighborhood, every Big Dance.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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I’m pleased to advise that on Wednesday, March 11, a Natchitoches Parish Grand Jury cleared my client Johnathan Rogers of the offenses of Manslaughter and Aggravated Second Degree Battery. In 2018 an earlier Grand Jury indicted Mr. Rogers for those offenses and the action of the Grand Jury on Wednesday effectively dismisses those charges.

I have been involved in this case for more than five (5) years and have always felt strongly that my client acted in self-defense and should never have been arrested or charged with any criminal offenses. Clearly the action of the Grand Jury on Wednesday vindicates my opinion in that regard. Mr. Rogers has been free on bail throughout these proceedings.

The court minutes of March 11 showing No True Bills are attached.

/s/
J. MICHAEL SMALL
Attorney-at-Law
(318) 487-8963
1412 Centre Ct., Suite 406
Alexandria, Louisiana 71301

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The Warriors basketball team made up of Natchitoches area 11-12 year old boys won their division’s championship game in bracket play.  The team went 9-1 on the season and dominated in the championship game, winning 40-12.  The head coach of the team was Richard P. Moody, Jr., and the assistant coach was Jonathan Kelly. The rec youth basketball league was hosted by the Natchitoches Recreation and Parks Department.

Shown in the picture above are players, left to right: Brycen Young, Carter Hough, Cameron Graham, Austin Bayonne, Cohen Gandy, Justin McKnight, M.J. Calvin, Michael Randolph, Jr., Austin Johnson, and Luke Fair. Coaches pictured on the back row, left to right: Jonathan Kelly and Richard P. Moody, Jr.

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Northwestern State continued its perfect defense of last season’s Southland Conference women’s tennis tri-championship as a homecourt weekend sweep was closed out in dominant fashion Sunday afternoon, 6-1 over Nicholls at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex.

The Lady Demons (8–4 overall, 4–0 in the SLC) secured the doubles point and won five of six singles matches in straight sets. It was less dramatic than their first three league wins, all by 4-3 margins, the latest a Friday decision over visiting UNO.

The Lady Demons secured the doubles point and claimed three singles matches to hold off the Privateers (6-3, 0-1).

“It was another hard-fought win,” head coach Marcos Morelli said. “It shows how competitive this conference is. Every team is tough, and anyone can beat anyone on any given day.”

Sofi Garcia once again delivered the clinching point for NSU, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 5 singles to give the Lady Demons an insurmountable 4-2 overall advantage.

Morelli emphasized that while Garcia delivered the final point, the win was a collective effort.

“Sofi finished the match, but it was a team effort,” Morelli said. “Martina (Acebedo Bonocore) has been doing an amazing job, Athina (Grigoriadou) got her first conference win, which was great to see, and Maria Farina fought hard until the end. Everyone contributed.”

Morelli said despite the strong start to conference play, the team remains focused on improvement.

“We’re off to a good start, but there are still a lot of things to work on,” Morelli said. “This is a very tough conference, and every match is a battle.”

Northwestern goes on the road next weekend at McNeese and Southeastern, and is home again March 28 against the other of 2025’s SLC tri-champions, Stephen F. Austin.

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The rising Northwestern State softball team made a loud statement to the rest of the Southland Conference on Saturday, grinding out a series win against perennial power McNeese in dramatic fashion at the Demon Diamond.

Following a competitive 5-2 loss in the first game Saturday, Northwestern scored a 1-0, 10-inning triumph behind near-perfection from pitcher Mattison Buster and a walk-off RBI from freshman Mckenna Rinewalt.

The series begin Friday night with another walk-off victory for Northwestern, 7-6, when Sister Arnold flared a one-out, bases-loaded single over McNeese’s first baseman in the bottom of the seventh.

It is NSU’s first series win over McNeese since 2015, first in Natchitoches since 2011 and just the fifth conference series loss to any team for the Cowgirls since 2021.

“It shows that we can compete at a high level in this conference and we brought in the players to do that,” second-year Northwestern coach Jenny Fuller said. “We’re only trending up from here.”

Winning for the 11^th time in 14 games, Northwestern rose to 14-15 overall and 4-2 in the Southland.  McNeese (20-9, 4-2) entered the weekend standing 19^th nationally in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index after an impressive early-season performance in non-conference competition.

McNeese jumped out to an early lead in the first game Saturday on a solo home run in the top of the first. Two straight singles to open the third led to two more runs and a 3-0 Cowgirl lead after three innings of play.

Rinewalt’s second home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth, pulled NSU within 3-2.

The Cowgirls got a solo homer to open the sixth and a leadoff double in the seventh led to an unearned run that made it a 5-2 final.

After 13 combined runs in the series opener on Friday and seven in game two, the bats for both teams were put on ice for the finale in an epic pitcher’s duel.

After tossing more than 100 pitches in a complete game win on Friday night, Buster followed with one of the most dominant outings of her career on Saturday to outduel McNeese’s Kynlei Chapman and Brookelyn Taylor.

Buster retired the first 17 batters she faced in a row to start the game before a harmless two-out single in the sixth, that was immediately erased as the runner left first base early on an attempted steal of second.

She faced one batter over the minimum in the game, surrendering a two-out walk, her only one of the game, in the seventh, and retired the final 10 batters of the game in a row to earn her 12th win of the season.

“She was incredible all weekend,” Fuller said. “She has kept us in ball games and is just so mentally tough. Nothing fazes her and I couldn’t be more proud of her for what she just did for this program.”

Buster held McNeese to their fewest hits in a conference game since 2021 and became the first Southland pitcher to win two games against the Cowgirls in the same series since Sam Houston’s Regan Dunn, also in 2021.

“I honestly wasn’t at my best yesterday,” Buster said. “I gave up quite a few runs but today the focus was throw hard, hit my spots and let my defense work and they absolutely worked their tails off today. I’m so proud of them.” 

The Demons were hitless for seven innings before J.T. Smith slashed a single to right with one out in the eighth. 

Her hit marked the first of three straight chances for the Demons with the winning run on base in extra innings. Smith was stranded at first after her hit, and Makynlie Jones drew a leadoff walk but was left standing at second in the ninth.

 A leadoff walk in the 10th ignited the game-winning rally.

Arnold reached on a five-pitch free pass to start the inning. A Britt Bourgoyne sacrifice bunt and McNeese throwing error put runners at the corners with no outs and the top of the lineup at the plate.

Smith was walked to load the bases, putting the game in the hands of the freshman Rinewalt. After her 200-foot homer in game one, she found the perfect spot on a 40-foot dribbler to the right of the pitching circle to end the series.

“We had no outs luckily because the hitters in front of me worked the whole inning,” Rinewalt said. “So I was just saying to myself hit something on the ground or hit something deep and luckily I was able to hit something on the ground and run it out. 

“It was awesome. I knew we had just won and believed the whole time that we were going to win. So for it to finally come true felt really good.”

The Demons go on the road next weekend to another SLC power, Southeastern.

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A couple of streaks along the bases from Brooks Leonard put the Northwestern State baseball team in position to extend its winning streak Sunday afternoon.

Leonard swiped a pair of bases in the eighth inning and scored the winning run on Thomas Marsala III’s fielder’s choice as the Demons completed a three-game sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with a 4-3 win at Brown-Stroud Field. Northwestern won for the sixth consecutive game.

“What a gritty win,” said third-year Chris Bertrand, whose team scored it seventh final at-bat win of the season. “That’s a Demon type of win, because it’s gritty, and it’s all up and down the lineup, and it’s all whatever it takes. It’s whatever anybody needs to do.”

Northwestern (13-7 overall, 6-3 in the Southland) opened the series beating A&M-CC 5-1 Friday night, then clubbed the visitors 10-4 Saturday. The Islanders went home 10-10 overall and 0-5 in the SLC.

For Leonard, who has batted leadoff since Feb. 24, his job description is clear – get on base and cause havoc.

Leonard accomplished the first part of those twin goals with one out in the eighth inning Sunday, singling up the middle.

In the midst of an eight-pitch at-bat to the returning Grant Comeaux, who appeared in a game for the first time since an injury Feb. 17, Leonard swiped second, then third base. His steal of third came on the final pitch of the at-bat as Comeaux drew a walk.

One batter later, Marsala chopped a ball to first baseman Karson Krowka, whose throw to second base recorded the only out on the play and allowed Leonard to scamper home with what became the sweep-clinching run.

“When I get on base, my job is to score,” said Leonard, whose nine stolen bases lead the Demons. “I want to make sure I can put my teammates in the best position. I trust my speed. I trust my tools. Play smart, play fast and let it fly.”

After collecting 24 hits in the first two games of the series, including a massive two-run shot from Marsala Friday night, the Demons scratched out just five Sunday. The biggest – literally and figuratively – came from catcher Noah McNeil.

On a day where 16 mph winds were whipping right to left, McNeil’s first-pitch swing in the fifth inning went from a deep fly ball to straightway center to a two-run, game-tying home run to left-center field – the first blast of McNeil’s college career.

“I came up expecting a fastball early in the count, and that’s what it was – a high fastball,” McNeil said. “That’s my money pitch. I drove it away, and everything else did its job. I’m proud of the team. They passed the message along to expect a heater. That’s the damage there.”

McNeil’s big swing backed Northwestern’s third quality start of the weekend as Trent Hillen scattered four hits and three runs across seven innings while striking out a career-high 10.

Hillen retired 13 of the final 15 hitters he faced, including striking out the side in the sixth inning immediately following McNeil’s home run.

“For a pitcher to go seven innings, it gives us a chance to win that ball game,” McNeil said. “That slider worked really well with the defensive swings from those guys. They’re giving up those strikes. I’m proud of Trent and hoping to see what he can do next week.”

The Demons return to action Tuesday when they start a two-game, midweek road trip with a matchup at Southern. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in Baton Rouge. They are home next weekend against UNO in a series beginning Friday evening at the Bistro.

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For the Second Time,  Marvin is extending an invitation to Grant Writer Nicole Gray to join him on this podcast.

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Under third-year coach Chris Bertrand, the Northwestern State baseball team has made player development a pillar of its program.

As the Demons begin their third Southland Conference series of the season tonight at 6:30 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Brown-Stroud Field, the evidence is at the top of the lineup.

Leadoff hitter Brooks Leonard and the Demons (10-7, 3-3 SLC) will continue the series with a 2 p.m. Saturday first pitch and a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee, coming off a road Southland Conference series win at UIW and a 13-2 midweek win against Alcorn State. The Islanders are also 10-7 overall but 0-2 in the conference.

Leonard enters the weekend not only having solidified his spot as Northwestern’s leadoff hitter but also thriving in that spot. In nine games as the leadoff man, the junior is batting .333 and reaching base at a .414 clip.

An outfielder who also has seen time at second base, Leonard also has swiped four of his team-leading six bases since moving to the top of the lineup. A Pierre Part native, Leonard has started 15 games – four more than across his first two years in the program combined.

“Building with quality people,” Bertrand said. “Building with great human beings. Brooks exemplifies everything we talk about when we talk about growth and development and a great fit for the program – what we want Demon baseball to be. A guy like Brooks, who has that work-while-you-wait mentality, who will play any position, do anything for the team. Brooks accepts every challenge that is laid before him, and he accepts in a way where he puts his head down and he works. He’s been a guy who has run the gamut of it. He’s been a role player to a part-time player to the top of the lineup to infield to outfield. He’s everything we want Demon baseball to be about.”  

The visiting Islanders bring a versatile offense to Natchitoches, one that leads the Southland in triples (6) and ranks second in stolen bases (29) and sacrifice bunts (9). Individually, graduate infielder Cade Sanchez leads the Southland in hitting at .403 while junior outfielder Isaiah Afework paces the SLC with two triples and Christian Smith-Johnson shares the league lead with 12 stolen bases.

Unlike the Demons’ most recent Southland opponent – UIW and first-year head coach Nick Zalesk — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is led by the dean of Southland Conference coaches Scott Malone, who is in his 19th season at the helm of the Islander program.

“You know exactly what you’re going to get – a very well-coached team, a very disciplined team, a team that likes to compete in the same way we feel we do,” Bertrand said. “You know you’re in for three great games. You know you’re in for a battle. For us, we’re happy and we are excited to play these games at home and to be at the B-Stro in front of our fans. It’s familiar ground. We have to continue to strike a balance. We have to realize it is week three of conference play and these are high-stakes games, but we also need to continue to work on the Demons.”

The Demons will have a new Friday night starter, left-hander Brody Trosclair (2-0, 0.00).  The program will honor family members and others battling cancer and have a series of activities to promote cancer awareness during the series as part of NSU Athletics’ continuing #ForkCancer initiative.

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A pleasant spring weekend will be busy for Northwestern Athletics with the defending Southland Conference champion women’s tennis team and the softball team both playing at home, along with a home baseball series and some big non-athletic events.

The Northwest Literary Rally and the NSU Music Festival on Saturday follow the ROTC Demon Challenge on Friday among a heavy slate of on-campus activities. Competition of a different kind in softball and tennis provides noteworthy early-season Southland Conference contests.

SOFTBALL:  A strong two-week stretch of play has Northwestern trending upward just as a key Southland series arrives at Demon Diamond.

The Lady Demons (12-14, 2-1) host perennial power McNeese (19-7, 3-0) in a three-game set that begins with a single game this evening at 6 before a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. All three games will stream on ESPN+, with Saturday’s opener also airing locally on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches.

NSU enters the weekend having won seven of its past nine games, a stretch that included a conference road series victory at HCU and a second run-rule win this season against Grambling earlier in the week.

During the recent surge, the Demons have found their rhythm offensively, batting .311 as a team while averaging 7.0 runs and nearly eight hits per game.

“I think we’re clicking as a team a little bit more than in the beginning and playing well together,” head coach Jenny Fuller said. “Feel like we’re putting the right pieces together and winning some games and gaining that momentum will be key going into this weekend.”

A major catalyst for the offensive turnaround has been leadoff hitter JT Smith, who has sparked the Demons at the top of the lineup during the past 10 games.

Smith is batting .522 during that stretch with a .632 on-base percentage, leading the team with 12 hits, 12 runs scored and nine RBIs during the run.

“She’s definitely elevated her play and done her job in the leadoff of getting on base,” Fuller said. “If she does that it sets us up for some momentum going into that inning. Happy with what she’s doing on that front. And I think she’s a natural leader and example too. She has played at a high level, practices with intensity and focus. She’s elevated our whole team with the way she plays and how she goes about preparing for games and being that true professional.”

The Demons will face a McNeese squad that opened conference play in strong fashion, sweeping Lamar in Lake Charles last weekend while averaging 7.3 runs per game in the three-game series.

“It’s huge to be able to play a team like them at home,” Fuller said. “We’re excited to play a team that is that competitive and has beaten some really good teams this year. I think if we play well and play together that we have a chance to beat them for sure.”

The weekend series will also feature several themed promotions at Demon Diamond.

Today’s opener will serve as Greek Night and a White Out, with Greek organizations invited to attend and participate in games and giveaways throughout the night. Saturday’s doubleheader will feature Bark in the Park, allowing fans to bring their leashed dogs to enjoy the day at Demon Diamond.

TENNIS: After starting SLC action with an impressive road sweep two weeks ago in south Texas, Northwestern returns to the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex this weekend.

Defending Southland co-champion NSU (6–4 overall, 2–0 SLC) hosts New Orleans today at 2 p.m. before welcoming Nicholls on Sunday at 11 a.m. in a pair of matches delayed last weekend by weather.

The Lady Demons enter the weekend with momentum after sweeping their opening Southland road trip with back-to-back 4–3 victories over UTRGV and another defending co-champion, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.

Saturday’s matchup brings in a strong UNO squad off to a 6-1 start.

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Phonetic: /be·queath/

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition

eave (a personal estate or one’s body) to a person or other beneficiary by a will.
“he bequeathed his art collection to the town”

Similar: leave, leave in one’s will. make over. pass on

pass (something) on or leave (something) to someone else.
“he is ditching the unpopular policies bequeathed to him”

Similar: hand down, hand on

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Join Marvin as he chats with State Representative Gabe Firment and the current session of the Louisiana Legislative season.

Brought to you by Lance Lopez with Farm Bureau, Harrington Law Firm and the Sharpco Hotel Group.

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After winter storm Fern forced the postponement of the annual Northwestern State softball dinner and auction fundraising event in January, a new date and venue has been set: Saturday evening, April 11 at Flying Heart Brewery in Natchitoches.

The new date coincides with softball’s alumni weekend series against UIW, with the auction event following the afternoon series finale.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. with the program starting at 6:30 and the evening’s meal served at 7. All tickets purchased for the original date will be honored.

Auction items scheduled for bid in January will also still be available in April. Those include dove hunting trips to South Texas with Double H Outfitters, a weekend getaway trip to Waco, Texas and a three-night stay at a lake house on Table Rock Lake in the Ozark Mountains.

There will also be a selection of silent auction items available, with bidding for those beginning as the doors open.

Individual seats are still available for $50 and VIP tables can be purchased for $450. Proceeds from the event go to benefit all areas of the NSU softball program, said head coach Jenny Fuller.

For more information on the even, becoming a sponsor, purchasing tickets or how to support NSU softball, contact assist coach Paxtyn Hayes at hayesp@nsula.edu.

Tickets for the event can also be purchased by visiting nsudemons.com/softballauction.

Those unable to attend who would like to support the program can donate  by texting the word Demons7 to 71777.

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