It will be an emotional day.
The last time the Fisher Gators played a home baseball game was in the 2021 state playoffs when Fisher defeated Vinton twice on May 1 to advance to the Class 2A state quarterfinals. The Gators went on to lose at Rosepine in the quarterfinals.
Then, Hurricane Ida hit southeastern Louisiana on August 29, 2021.
The impact was felt in massive fashion along the Louisiana coast and into the metropolitan New Orleans area and all cities and parishes in its path.
That included lower Jefferson Parish and the city of Lafitte.
The impact of the storm devastated the city and Fisher middle and High School and its facilities.
The school, its students, teachers and athletic programs relocated to Marrero on the campus of John Ehret, spending two years there.
With slow progress, demolition of the main campus buildings in Lafitte began in September of 2025. The demolition is complete with the athletic building standing as the only building remaining from the original campus.
The plan is to build a new school on the campus site.
The progress and signs of life have finally manifested themselves in Lafitte.
This Friday, the Fisher baseball team returns home to its newly renovated, beautifully constructed ballpark to host its first game in nearly five years.
It will be an emotional time.
Appropriately, the first “home” game in five years will be against John Ehret at 6 p.m., the extended “home” of Fisher.
Jordan Nelson will feel those emotions as much as anyone.
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A hometown hero, Nelson was an All-District player at Fisher in 2008 under Duane Foret. Nelson went on to pitch at the University of New Orleans for three seasons (2011-13).
In his sixth season as head coach of the Gators in 2025, Nelson achieved his 100th victory.
Now in his seventh season, Nelson will achieve an even bigger victory when his alma mater, his school, his team returns to his hometown and to his campus.
“It’s going to mean a lot. None of the kids on the team have played a game in Lafitte. We’ve been playing all over the place. Segnette Field is 35 minutes away. We’re excited to get a good turnout.”
The Fisher students, after being at John Ehret, moved to a temporary location in 2023 on Barataria Blvd. less than a mile from John Ehret and a few miles from Segnette Field in Westwego.
Now, the Gator baseball players will have a chance to play at home for the first time.
“The new facility is very nice with a turf field, new locker rooms, a new press box and sound system which has been updated,” Nelson said. “The grandstand has been refurbished. It is a first-class facility.”
One of the huge reasons Fisher relocated to John Ehret was Sheena Smith-Dilworth.
The long-time John Ehret athletic director and softball coach who has been at Ehret for 20 years, Dilworth was a star softball player at Fisher who graduated there in 2001. Dilworth went on to be an assistant softball coach at Fisher in 2004 before she graduated from Tulane in 2005.
When Fisher needed a home after Hurricane Ida, Dilworth reached out to her alma mater.
“I reached out to Tevyn Cagins, the head football coach and told him not to cancel the season,” Dilworth said. “We helped with going to Fisher to load up on everything that could be saved and got it to Ehret. We just kind of figured it out. We just wanted to help.”
The Fisher athletic teams, including the baseball program, made the move and kept the teams together.
“The Fisher baseball team practiced at John Ehret or went on a bus to practice at different locations, including Lafitte,” Dilworth said. “It was a lot of moving. It was a community effort. Their baseball team played here at Ehret, at Segnette Field and anywhere they could get to play.”
Dilworth’s older sister, Amber Smith-Walden, is the principal secretary and middle school athletic director at Fisher. Dilworth’s nieces and cousins also attended Fisher.
Dilworth, who bleeds the blue and red of John Ehret, loves her alma mater as well.
“I have a purple Ehret shirt,” Dilworth said. The fact that they are playing Ehret in their return home is great,” Dilworth said. “I am so happy that we were able to help and so happy to see my alma mater returning home. Our whole community went to that school. I’m glad we could be a blessing.”
Nelson, who bleeds the purple and gold of Fisher, loves his alma mater as well.
“Having played at Fisher and having coached there, I have a lot of great memories,” Nelson said. “We want to make new memories. These kids deserve it. This community deserves it. You cannot hope for much better for a high school field.”
Dilworth will be at the game Friday in her purple John Ehret shirt.
Nelson and his players, who are 5-1 with three straight wins on the season, will proudly wear the purple and gold.
“It’s great to play a local rival that helped our school when we needed it,” Nelson said. “It is appropriate to be playing Ehret. I loved playing at Fisher. Now, I cannot wait for our young men to get that opportunity.”
It will be a good day and evening in Lafitte Friday.