Amazing effort

VIDALIA -- Despite a valiant comeback attempt after a loss, the Ville Platte Minor All-Stars fell just short of a championship trophy and a shot at the state title as they were defeated by Morgan City, 12-7, in the final game of the Dixie Youth South Regional Tournament Tuesday night.
Ville Platte started the tournament 3-0 before losing to Delhi on Monday. That loss coupled with Morgan City’s win put three teams having one loss apiece. A draw from a hat determined which two teams had to do battle first and which team got to sit out and wait for the winner.
Unfortunately, Ville Platte was one of those teams that wound up playing the first game on Tuesday, with their opponent being Delhi, a team they had played twice already. A 6-4 win in that game gave the All-Stars a chance to face Morgan City for the second time in the tournament for all the marbles. But, Ville Platte could not find the necessary fuel to drive themselves across the line.
“We were definitely gassed in that final game,” stated Ville Platte head coach Ched Fontenot. “It is tough when you are running on fumes. Nevertheless, I couldn’t be more proud of this team and all they accomplished this season. For us to make a run like this is out of this world.”
“When we started, we were so inexperienced,” Fontenot continued. “It was a rough ride at first, but we began to grow and mature. Toward the end we really came together. This really has been a special season.”
Ville Platte began play on Friday and showed everyone there that they had to be dealt with as they blew away Delhi 19-2.
The game did not start out as a blowout, with neither team scoring until Ville Platte plated a run in the top of the third inning. In the top of the fourth, the All-Stars came out swinging, picking up 10 runs on four hits and seven walks.
Two of those hits came off of the bat of Kolton LaFleur as he doubled in both trips to the plate. Ashton Duos and Ellis Fontenot also collected singles in their at bats.
Delhi responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth. Ville Platte countered with eight more runs in the top of the sixth. Four hits, including a double by Rylan Soileau, and six walks gave the All-Stars a commanding 19-2 lead. Delhi scored their final runs in the bottom of the sixth.
On Saturday, Ville Platte squeezed past North Sabine by the score of 3-2. The game was tied at 1-1 with the All-Stars batting in the top of the fourth when Fontenot singled on a 0-1 count, scoring Ellis Fusilier and Ellis Chapman to seal the win.
Ville Platte scored first in the top of the third, but was answered with a solo run from North Sabine in the bottom half of that same inning. The final run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when North Sabine tried to make a comeback.
Moving on in the winner’s bracket on Sunday gave Ville Platte a chance to stay the only undefeated team in the tournament. To do that, they would have to get past Morgan City.
The All-Stars made sure that they would take control of the Regional tourney, as they came back from a 1-0 deficit to take down the St. Mary Parish All-Stars 4-1.
Morgan City struck first, picking up a single run in the top of the first. It took Ville Platte a couple of innings to get going, but once they did, they did not look back.
The boys in blue plated two big runs in the bottom of the third inning. Rylan Soileau issued the big hit of the inning, a one out single to center field that plated Gavin Patin and Von Leday.
Ville Platte picked up single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to secure their third win of the tournament.
The beautiful start to the tournament turned ugly on Monday as the All-Stars fell in a lop-sided 22-10 loss to Delhi. In that game, Ville Platte gave up 10 hits and 10 walks and committed five errors.
As a result of that loss, the All-Stars were forced to win twice on Tuesday to hoist the trophy and move on to the state championship series.
Game one on Tuesday saw a valiant effort by Ville Platte, as they took down Delhi for the second time in the tournament. In that game, the All-Stars found themselves behind 4-1 after three innings of play. But, Ville Platte found a way to push two runs across in the next two innings and a single run in their final at bat to take the win.
Game two was not how Ville Platte wanted to end the tournament, as they went down to Morgan City in the championship game. Despite owning a 3-0 lead after one inning of play, the All-Stars gave up eight runs in the next two innings to fall behind 8-3.
Morgan City picked up another four runs in the bottom of the fourth to basically put the game away.
“I just want to thank everybody who had a hand in this season,” said Fontenot. “I would especially like to thank my assistant coaches Lance Chapman and Joffre Fusilier. Both of these guys went above and beyond to get this team ready to play. On top of that, they were great motivators and leaders. I would also like to thank the parents for being so patient and allowing myself and the assistants to coach their kids. It was definitely an enjoyable year for me.”