New Iberia Senior High catcher Kanin Meyers, who hit .294 with three doubles and 28 RBIs, was chosen as co-MVP on The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Baseball Team. NISH coach Eli Lewellyn said the Yellow Jackets would not have won 20 games without his defensive efforts.

Two players, both infielders, both key cogs in their respective teams’ playoff success, share MVP honors this year on The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Baseball Team for the 2021 season.

There are a few other similarities between the two.

Both are seniors, both were leaders on their respective teams, and both, according to their coaches, were big reasons that both teams had the successful seasons they had.

A final similarity saw both wear black and gold uniforms.

New Iberia Senior High School catcher Kanin Meyers (.294 average, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 28 RBIs) and Loreauville High School third baseman/pitcher Jordy Broussard (.303 average, 4 doubles, 2 homers, 27 RBIs; 6-0, 1.30 ERA) were about as instrumental to each team’s success as possible.

“I can’t count the number of times Kanin stopped a wild pitch or a passed ball or came through in the clutch for us,” NISH coach Eli Lewellyn said. “We do not win 20 games without him and we don’t make the quarterfinals without him.”

“All he did was hit for us and pitch for us,” LHS coach Rob Segura said about Broussard. “He beat Walker, which made the Class 5A semifinals and Opelousas Catholic, which played for the Division II championship. That says enough about what he did this year for us.”

Usually, during a high school baseball season, there is one person in an area who stands out in what he was able to do with his arm or his bat.

For the first time in two decades, two players stood out and both were key as NISH won 20 games and made the quarterfinals for the first time in 30 years and Loreauville made the semifinals for the third time in four years.

As befit two teams that made deep runs in the postseason, the Best of the Teche is dominated by players from NISH and Loreauville. Four Jackets and four Tigers are on the first team, along with three from Catholic High, two each from Westgate and Highland and one from Delcambre.

Joining Meyers from NISH on the Best of the Teche are senior twins Cody Khammany (.300 average, nine doubles, three triples, two home runs and 44 RBIs) and Colby Khammany(.245 average, seven doubles, one home run and 16 RBIs) and pitcher Kade Linn (2.51 ERA, 107 strikeouts).

All four were second team All-District 3-5A selections.

For his efforts in leading the Yellow Jackets to a 20-win season and a trip to the Class 5A quarterfinals for the first time in a generation, Lewellyn is The Daily Iberian’s 2021 Best of the Teche Coach of the Year.

Joining Broussard from Loreauville are sophomore pitcher Garrett Blanchard (.333 average, 17 RBIs, 4-3, 2.20 ERA, 17 strikeouts), junior outfielder Jahari Williams (.323 average, nine doubles, 21 RBIs) and sophomore pitcher Riley Marcotte (5-2, 1 save, 2.40 ERA, 81 strikeouts).

All were first team All-District 7-2A selections.

Senior outfielder William Regard headed up the Catholic High selections for the Best of the Teche team. He batted .370 with three doubles, two triples, three home runs and 15 RBIs. He is joined on the team by senior first baseman John Cole Broussard (.351 average, four doubles, one triple, one home run and 25 RBIs) and senior pitcher Robert Minvielle (3-3, 2.52 ERA and 52 strikeouts).

“William and John Cole had great years for us,” CHS coach David Jordan said.

Westgate was led by Devyn Zenon who batted .565 with 10 doubles, five triples and two homers with 28 RBIs. Also on the team is teammate Jacavian Jacob (.447, four doubles, one triple, 13 RBIs, 2-1, 3.25 ERA).

Highland is represented by senior pitcher/shortstop Myles Liggans (.416, one home run, 17 RBIs, 4-0, 1.91 ERA) and Sadler Delahoussaye (.303, 20 RBIs, 20 runs scored)

“Myles was our leadoff hitter,” Highland coach Brennan Boudreaux said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that he played through an injury in the second half of the season.

“He really toughed it out.”

Both players were first team All-District 8-A selections.

Delcambre is represented by Kalob Moneaux, who went 9-3 as a pitcher and hit .392 with two home runs. He was a first team All-District 7-2A selection as well.

Honorable mention selections to the Best of the Teche include Catholic High’s Seagan Segura, Carter Fletcher and Zachary Napier; Delcambre’s Hayden Frederick; Highland Baptist’s Matthew Elrod, Blayde White, Ben Gulotta, Kale Decuir and Ryan Breaux; Loreauville’s Whitney Boudreaux; New Iberia Senior High’s Dylan Ruffin, T. J. Coughlin and Evan Hebert; Westgate’s Logan Romoero, Jihad Simon, Danny Lewis Daylin LeBlanc and Kevon Joseph; West St. Mary’s Kalum Hills, D.J. Edmond and Jovan Robertson; Franklin’s Dy’lawayne Darby; Hanson Memorial’s Jacob Daniel and Ethan Judice; and Centerville’s Morty Frederick.