By Ron Brocato
I pose a hypothetical question to illustrate a point:
Imagine the majority of outstanding male athletes attending any of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ high schools were placed in just one of the 11 Catholic institutions in the metro area. How successful would that school’s programs be against its peers?
You would undoubtedly have created an athletically powerful force to be reckoned with. And the undeniable proof of that is Catholic High of Baton Rouge, the only large school of its kind in the capital city, with a male student population of 1,145.
Since becoming a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, beginning in 1920, Catholic High has won a total of 113 State Championships across multiple sports, along with 92 class or division runner-up titles and 426 district championships.
Catholic high schools in the New Orleans area compete for the best and brightest talent among each other, and Brother Martin’s sports programs have been among the most competitive since its first year of 1969-70.
The Crusaders ended the 2026 spring campaign with their second consecutive Select Division I runner-up prize, earned in Sulphur following a gruelingly long championship series with the Catholic Bears, who claimed their third straight state championship on May 14-15 by the scores of 6-2 and 3-2, following a bizarre 15-inning marathon that set a record as the longest title game in LHSAA history.
In 1996, Brother Martin won its last state title by defeating West Monroe, 1-0, in 12 innings.
Under Head Coach Jeff Lupo ‘92 and his staff, the Crusaders set a school record with 35 wins in 42 games, and gained their 10th district title to merit the first-ever No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Despite the final outcome, Lupo issued a verbal toast to his players in his post-season analysis:
“What we were able to accomplish was amazing. This senior class will walk out of here as the winningest class in school history and only the second time that we played for back-to-back state championships since 1984 and 1985.”
Catholic High has won four Division I titles since 2022, and its third-in-a-row. But the Crusaders outhit the rival Bears in both games, 7-6 against Catholic’s best pitcher, Ole Miss-bound Lucas Lawrence, and 10-9, in the state’s longest game.
“My message after the game to the team was I don’t look at it as a loss. I see it as we just ran out of outs,” Lupo said. “Don’t let this (outcome) overshadow everything that went on from the first pitch in early February to the last pitch on Friday night.
“I think we were written off after last year’s players graduated. ‘How can Brother Martin repeat? people wondered. They lost 13 seniors, including two all-state performers and two senior pitchers, and only three position players are returning?”
In a district that boasted six teams as first and second round playoff hosts because of their high rankings, District 9-5A proved to be the most competitive in the state’s highest classification, and Brother Martin has won or shared the league baseball title in three of the last four years.
“The guys believed in themselves and their teammates, and they put in the work through the summer and into the fall to make this come to fruition,” Lupo continued. “It’s not by accident that they got to where they are, and I’m extremely proud and love them.”
The coach talked about a ninth-inning faux pas that nearly cost the Bears a championship by giving the Crusaders new life when everyone thought the outcome was a foregone conclusion. In the ninth inning of the second game with the bases loaded with Bears, an apparent walk that would have scored the winning run was erased by a mental error. Instead of running to first base, the excited batter ran toward his celebrating teammates instead of stepping on first base.
Through the premature celebrations, Lupo saw this and shouted to catcher Tyler Durand ‘27 to throw the ball to first base. The celebration ended abruptly.
“When I saw what was happening, I realized we had an opportunity, and I was going to do everything to fight for our kids,” the coach said. “And while things were unfolding, I walked down the line towards the umpire and told him the batter gave himself up by not running to first. There was a combination of pandemonium, exhilaration, and disbelief.”
The Crusaders’ No. 3 starter, junior Nolan Amato, relieved starter Drake Amedee ‘26, who had thrown 115 pitches, to hurl the final six innings, and drew praise from Lupo for his effort in defeat. He then made a final observation, saying, “There’s no doubt that the two best teams were playing for the state championship.
“Credit the pitching staffs. Both offenses had a lot of threats in them, and for both teams to pitch a combined 30 innings and give up only five runs was very impressive. Catholic’s staff gave up two runs in the first inning, then threw 14 shutout innings after.
“And our guys were tremendous, and they left nothing on the field. And I told them that they did an incredible job of laying the foundation of standards and expectations for what’s to come with this program, that this team has cemented those expectations. I’m not disappointed in them; rather, I’m disappointed for them knowing the amount of energy they put into making the season a successful one,” Lupo said.
