[StBernard] St. Bernard Sports Hall of Fame

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Sports Hall of Fame honors locals

 

Several locals were honored by the St. Bernard Sports Hall of Fame at a
recent banquet held in the grand ballroom of the Frederick J. Sigur Civic
Center in Chalmette.

The group inducted Tommy Manzella, a baseball star at Archbishop Hannan High
School, Tulane University and a member of the Houston Astros farm system,
into the St. Bernard Sports Hall of Fame at its 14th annual induction
ceremony and banquet. 

"One of the missions of the St. Bernard Sports Hall of Fame is to honor
great athletes from St. Bernard, as well as coaches who have contributed to
the success of athletes," said Sean Warner, president of the St. Bernard
Sports Hall of Fame. Approximately 30 individuals are in the hall of fame,
Warner added. 

In addition to inducting Manzella, Dana Martin of Chalmette High School and
Kal Bonura of Holy Cross High School were honored as Amateur Athletes of the
Year and Bruce Kamlade as the Gulf Coast Humanitarian of the Year. Special
recognition also was given to St. Bernard resident Lionel "Da Pope" Alphonso
for his loyal support of the New Orleans Saints. 

Manzella was drafted in the third round by the Houston Astros in 2005.
Manzella has been rated by Baseball America as the best defensive infielder
and as having the best infield arm in the Astros farm system. 

He was a four-year starter at Tulane, where he won numerous awards and
honors. In his senior year, he was selected to the first-team All Conference
USA team as he led the Green Wave in batting average, hits, stolen bases and
assists. 

Manzella also was a three-year starter at shortstop at Hannan where he led
Doug Faust's Hawks to a 72-20 record and three district championships. 

As a senior, Martin was honored as Chalmette High School's most outstanding
female athlete for 2007-08 and became the only athlete in school history to
be named to an all-state team in volleyball and softball in the same school
year. 

As a senior at Holy Cross, Bonura was named to the Class 4A All State
Football Team by Louisiana sportswriters. 

Bonura set a single-season school record for pass receptions and for pass
receiving yards and scored 16 touchdowns. 

Bonura also played baseball for the Tigers, where he was named to the
All-District and All Orleans/St. Bernard teams in 2008. He was also chosen
Holy Cross High School's athlete of the year for 2007-08. 

Kamlade will receive the humanitarian of the year award for his 34 years of
coaching basketball and baseball on the playgrounds of St. Bernard Parish,
St. Bernard all stars and select teams, as well as serving as the ninth
grade and varsity assistant baseball coach and junior varsity and varsity
assistant basketball coach at Holy Cross. 

Alphonso, known as "Da Pope" at Saints football games, is well known for his
colorful attire and support of the Saints. 

For more information about the group, call Warner at 504.569.1900 or St.
Bernard Sports Hall of Fame board members Jim Bickford at 504.495.1104, Roy
Cortes at 985.809.3959, Terry Verges at 504.512.0550, Raymond Doran at
504.554.4794, Chermaine Kerth at 504.554.5514, Charlie Reppel at
504.442.1452 or Bryan Frichter at 504.554.2685. 

For more information about Recovery and Growth in St. Bernard Parish, visit
our website at www.sbpg.net
<https://mail.sbpg.net/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sbpg.net/> .

 

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