MAMOU -- The Ville Platte Dixie Youth Pitching Machine All-Stars were able to secure themselves a trip to the DYB State Tournament this past weekend after placing second in the District 7 Tournament.
The All-Stars finished tournament play with an overall record of 8-2. Ville Platte will now travel to Jackson Parish for the state tourney which begins on July 5.
“Our guys played a bunch of games and played them hard,” stated head coach Nick Fontenot. “We were a little bit inconsistent on offense. It is something we are going to need to work on. But, I am super proud of this team’s effort and hustle. I have to give it to Oakdale, they are a great team. They will be a top three team at state. We just have to go back in the next week and a half and get ready.”
Ville Platte busted out to a great start in the tournament, going undefeated in their pool games. The All-Stars opened up with a 16-0 drubbing of Sulphur American on Thursday and followed that with an 11-0 blanking of Sulphur National in their first game on Friday.
Ville Platte then took on Vernon Central immediately following the Sulphur National game Friday evening and were able pick up a close 10-9 win in that contest.
On Saturday, the All-Stars needed three runs in their final at bat to squeeze past South Beauregard 4-3.
The second pool game on Saturday was another run-rule win for Ville Platte, as they pounded the ball for ten hits in a 20-6 win over Vernon National. With that victory, Ville Platte went into the bracket play on Sunday as the number one seed from their pool.
In the first bracket game of the tournament, the All-Stars continued swinging the hot bat, blistering the ball for 16 hits in a 20-6 dismantling of DeQuincy.
Game two of bracket play found Ville Platte in a game against cross-parish rival Pine Prairie. The All-Stars once again lit up the scoreboard, gathering up a 21-11 victory over their orange clad opponents.
That win brought Ville Platte face to face with a tough Oakdale squad. The All-Star bats fell silent and the Oakdale defense clamped down, forcing an 11-0 loss to the Allen Parish squad.
With only one loss, Ville Platte now faced Pine Prairie once more for a shot at the title game. The All-Stars stood tall and picked up the every important 10-0 win.
That win put them in the finals against Oakdale, a team they had to beat twice for the trophy. Unfortunately, Oakdale had their number again and took the 16-4 win over Ville Platte.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX Sports Editor