Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the 1971 creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 62nd year in 2018. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region. Each of the monthly award winners are honored in the summer at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Photo Courtesy of the New Orleans Boosters

Brandon Briuglio, from the New Orleans Boosters’ baseball program, wasn selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month for August. Briuglio was named Most Valuable Player of the 2018 All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) National Tournament, hosted August 6-11 in Johnstown, Pa. He enjoyed a stellar week at the plate, batting .545 in six games with six runs in 22 at-bats, including 12 hits (5 singles, 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 grand slam) and 10 RBI. Briuglio’s bases-clearing triple in the second game gave the Boosters their first lead of the tournament as Briuglio closed the day 3-for-3 with two doubles, a triple, and two walks. On Wednesday, his grand slam extended the gap to give the Boosters a 10-4 lead in an eventual mercy rule decision over Brooklyn.

New Orleans fell to Johnstown 3-2 in the AAABA championship game to give the host city its first-ever AAABA Title in the tournament’s 74-year history. 2018 marked the New Orleans franchise’s 27^th appearance in an AAABA Tournament final and third appearance in the last four championship games. The Boosters captured their 15^th national title in 2017. New Orleans made its first AAABA Tournament appearance in 1946.

As a perk of Briuglio’s selection as Most Valuable Player, his name will join his tournament MVP predecessors in being engraved on the AAABA display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Briuglio prepped at Jesuit High School and is entering his sophomore season at Delgado Community College.

Xavier volleyball star Kayla Black was also in contention for the August honor. A sophomore, Black keyed a 4-2 month of August for the Gold Nuggets. In six August matches, she had 87 kills, 72 digs, seven aces, six blocks and hit .267. Black was named Gulf Coast Athletic Conference preseason co-Player of the Year, GCAC Attacker of the Week for Aug. 20-26 and all-tournament at the Mid-South Crossover Challenge in Bowling Green, Ky., an event which saw Xavier defeat No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan – the program’s first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent.