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NATCHEZ — A banner year for Cathedral Catholic School’s varsity baseball team was capped off with two members of the Green Wave earning individual accomplishments for the 2025 season in MAIS District 4-5A.

Both the players — Tristan Fondren and Owen Jordan — are currently juniors and will be seniors for what head coach Andrew Beesley hopes to be another strong year for the Green Wave baseball program in 2026.

Fondren was named the District 4-5A All-District Player of the Year for the second straight year. The shortstop put up strong numbers at the plate not only in district play but for the entire season.

“This is back-to-back years he’s been All-District Player of the Year. He earned it each year,” Beesley said. “He’s just one of those guys who you know what you’re going to get every time he arrives at the ball park.”

For the season, Fondren had a .404 batting average, a .570 on-base percentage, hit five doubles and two triples, had 17 runs batted in, scored 26 runs, and was walked 22 times.

Defensively for the 2025 season, Fondren had 95 attempts at his position, made 11 errors, turned 10 double plays, and had an .890 fielding percentage.

As far as hitting stats were in district play, they were equally impressive. Fondren had a .462 batting average, a .533 on-base percentage, had four of his five doubles in district play, seven RBIs, scored nine runs, and was walked four times.

“We’re really proud of him and the growth he’s shown throughout the years. I’m looking forward to what he does his senior year,” Beesley said about Fondren.

Jordan shared All-District Co-Pitcher of the Year honors with a pitcher from Copiah Academy, Beesley said. Jordan pitched 43 innings with a 4-2 record, 66 strikeouts, a strong 3.04 earned run average, walked only 25 batters, and pitched a complete game against cross-down and district rival Adams County Christian School.

“That’s a really big honor. I thought he pitched well for us. I was proud of his maturity he showed this year,” Beesley said. “I thought he played well against ACCS in a big district match-up. He pitched seven innings and that was a really big win for us.”

And it will be a good thing that both Fondren and Jordan will be back for their senior year in 2026 as the Green Wave will be competing in the new MAIS South District 4-4A for at least the 2026 and 2027 seasons against Jackson Preparatory School, Copiah Academy, Silliman Institue, and Oak Forest Academy after last November’s decision by the Academy Athletic Commission (AAC) to lower the number of classifications in the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) from six down to four. Class 4A will now be the highest classification.

Beesley added that he welcomes the challenge of playing in what should be an extremely difficult district against top-notch competition.

“We’re excited about the competition. We’ll never back down from it. We’re looking forward to another good year for Cathedral baseball,” Beesley said.