NEW ORLEANS – Christian Westcott, the star shortstop for the New Orleans Boosters baseball team, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for August after leading his team to the All American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) Championship in Johnstown, Pa. Monthly award-winners are selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month
Westcott earned AAABA Tournament MVP honors after hitting a scintillating .552 with 16 hits including two doubles and a triple and 14 runs batted in. He also had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage while turning four double plays. In the title game, Westcott went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs and four RBIs.
The Boosters won the franchise’s 17th AAABA Tournament championship with a one-sided 17-6, seven-inning victory over the New Brunswick Matrix on Saturday, August 7 at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point in Johnstown, Pa. The Boosters, who were a perfect 6-0 in the tournament while outscoring their opponents 85-19, pounded out eight runs in the bottom of the first inning and continued to build on the margin throughout the title game.
Westcott, who plays football and baseball at Southeastern Louisiana, also earned the Amateur Athlete of the Month honor for September of 2019 after a dominant month for the Lakeshore High School football team.
Also nominated for the August honor was Xavier University of Louisiana’s Vivica Price-Spraggins and talented junior golfer Sarah Meral. Price-Spraggins opened the 2021 volleyball season by being named the Red River Athletic Conference Attacker of the Week for August 23-29. A fifth-year middle blocker from Chicago, Price-Spraggins produced 12 kills, two blocks and four digs and hit .409 in 22 attacks in the Gold Nuggets’ season-opening five-set loss to Wayland Baptist. The award is the sixth of Price-Spraggins’ career. She is tied for fifth in weekly awards in XULA volleyball history. Meral, meanwhile, won the Allstate Sugar Bowl Fall Series golf tournament event at Beau Chene Country Club as part of the Kelly Gibson Junior Golf Tour on August 14-15. A senior at St. Scholastica Academy, Meral placed second in the LHSAA Division I state championship in May and was the runner-up in the 2021 Louisiana Golf Association Women’s State Amateur Championship.
The Committee would also like to give special recognition to the Jefferson Parish Parks and Recreation Department (JPRD) 8U softball team, which won the Babe Ruth World Series for its age group in Florida in early August. These girls made history being the first JPRD 8 and under team to compete in a franchised tournament. “When they get on their field, there’s no playing,” said Coach Monique Duvernay. “They are ready. They’re on fire.”
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee has been selecting an Amateur Athlete of the Month each month since 1957. The athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region in order to be eligible.
Recent Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month:
2021
August Christian Westcott Baseball New Orleans Boosters
July William Good Baseball Retif Oil Legion
June Raven Nunnery Track John Curtis Christian School
May Zack Casebonne Baseball Jesuit High School
April Jared Butler Basketball Baylor University
March Stafford Agee Powerlifting Holy Cross High School
February Jacob and Evan Frost Wrestling Holy Cross High School
January Jared Butler Basketball Baylor University
2020
December Mandel Eugene Football St. Charles Catholic High School
November AJ Samuel Football Edna Karr High School
October Gage Larvadain Football Riverside Academy
September Cameron Carroll Football Tulane University
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 99 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 19 Heisman Trophy winners in its 87-year history. The 88th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will feature top teams from the Big 12 and the SEC, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2022. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.7 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
{Courtesy: release from the Allstate Sugar Bowl}
