A long time conversation piece between a group of "baseball junkies" finally became a reality this baseball season. Prep baseball on TV!

With the help of many wonderful members of the community, we were able to put some of the area's top schools and baseball programs on TV and give their players and coaches the recognition that they much deserve.

The response from the community has been extremely enthusiastic and we look forward to expanding and enhancing the series of games for next season. We look forward to reaching out to more schools and baseball programs in and around the New Orleans area. Prep baseball in this city has some of the best programs, players and richest traditions in the country!

On behalf of DW Productions, we would like to thank our title sponsor, First NBC Bank, and Mr. Ashton Ryan for the generous support that they showed to our concept of putting high school baseball on TV with regularity. This could not have been done without First NBC's commitment to high school athletics and specifically baseball in the New Orleans metro area. We look forward to a continued partnership with them so that high school athletics can continue to be seen in such a positive light.

We also would like to thank the Robert family and Robert Fresh Market for their significant contribution to the showcase. Along with key contributors, Larry Gibbs of Gibbs Construction, Kevin Mmahat of Rhino Shield, Frank Adolph of BIg Easy Scooters, Anne Comarda and Joyce Delery of Delery Comarda Realtors, Chase Dardar of State Farm, Wally Pontiff Sr of the Wally Pontiff Jr Foundation, Paul Guillie of Southern Eagle, Loy Ernst of Portobello Catering and Grundmann's Athletic Company. Without these members of the local community stepping up to the plate with a generous showing of support, we could not have made this concept a reality. It was truly a community effort!

We are very appreciative of the help and support of Dean Powery, general manager of WHNO, and Ken Trahan, president of SportsNOLA.com, who served as our play by play commentator. Lenny Vangilder, our producer, was terrific to work with and did a great job of making sure that things went as planned. As well as Ken Berthelot, WHNO sports director, and the Adam Bandera led production crew. Their talents were instrumental in making this a highly successful first season.

Finally, a special thanks to the schools involved - Brother Martin, Jesuit, Holy Cross, Rummel and Shaw. Their principals, athletic directors, coaches and support staff are to be thanked for their cooperation, support and assistance with the details of the broadcasts.

Whew! So many people to thank, so many people who care about our youth, and so many reasons to continue on showcasing prep sports in our area! We wish all these schools and baseball programs the best of luck in the upcoming state playoffs! See y'all next season.

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The inaugural season of the "First NBC Bank Prep Baseball Showcase" will conclude on Wednesday night, April 25th, with an 8:00 pm showing of Brother Martin and Rummel on WHNO, Cox channel 20. This important district 9-5A match up is the final game of the 5A regular season for both teams. Playoff implications are present as some of top seeds in the 5A playoff bracket will be impacted by the outcome of this contest.

Rummel will start their ace pitcher and LSU signee, Mitch Sewald. Brother Martin will start freshman, Corey Gaconi, who got the victory in Brother Martin's, 2-1, extra inning win over Rummel at UNO on April 12th.