By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell Sports Editor
SLIDELL — With the talented athletes that have come out of Slidell and Pearl River, it is no surprise so many local players are doing well at the Division-I level.
Pearl River High?School graduate Andro Cutura is a junior pitcher at Southeastern Louisiana University. He is a 6-0, 180-pound pitcher.
Cutura made the 2013 Southland Conference Honor Roll, 2013 College Sports Madness Preseason All-Conference, 2012 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, 2012 Southland Conference Honor Roll, 2012 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, 2012 Honorable Mention All-Southland Conference, and 2012 LSWA Louisiana Freshman of the Year.
As a freshman, Cutura compiled a 6-1 record with a 3.41 ERA in 15 appearances (12 starts). He limited opponents to a .244 average in 76.1 innings of work, and tossed the Lions only complete game in a stellar performance against Southland preseason favorite Texas State, allowing one run on five hits.
At Pearl River, he was a First Team All-District as a junior and senior, was honorable mention All-State as a junior, and earned two letters each in baseball and soccer. He also earned two letters in baseball at Pope John Paul. He is the son of Miroslav and Denise Cutura, and is majoring in general studies.
Also playing on the SLU baseball team is Northshore High?School graduate Sean Kennel who is a senior pitcher standing at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds.
He made the 2013 Southland Conference Honor Roll, 2013 Southland Conference All-Academic (second team), and 2012 Southland Conference Honor Roll.
As a sophomore, Kennel had an 0-1 record with a 9.82 ERA in five appearances. He turned in a pair of scoreless relief outings against Alcorn State.
Kennel began and finished his career at Northshore High School, made the second team all-district as a sophomore and first team all-district as a junior. He also won a 5A state championship as a senior at Northshore.
Kennel is the son of Brian and Gina Kennel, and is majoring in Mathematics.
Northshore High?School grad Josh Dakin is a defensive back on Southeastern’s football team.
He is a sophomore at SLU and saw action in all 11 games in the secondary and on special teams as a freshman. He finished the season with 15 tackles (12 solo), made a season-high four solo stops at UAB, was credited with three tackles versus Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin, and had two tackles and forced a fumble in a Southland Conference victory over Northwestern State.
In high school, Dakin was a two-time, first-team all-district 7-5A performer. He is the son of Lee and Jennifer Dakin, and is a nursing major.
Slidell High graduate James Donaldson is a freshman wide receiver at Southeastern. He was a standout wide receiver at Slidell High School and made the honorable mention all-state team as a senior.
He is the son of James Donaldson and Ladera Williams.
Northshore graduate Terangi Phifer plays at Southeastern as a sophomore defensive lineman at SLU. As a freshman, he saw action in one game on the defensive line against UAB.
At NHS, he played nose guard and was named first-team all-district 7-5A as a senior in 2010.
He is the son of Terangi and Veronica Phifer and is an engineering technology major. His father played football at Central Methodist University.