Just travellin’ on

The challenge this weekend for the 10U Ville Platte Pride softball team as they take on all comers in the FASA Class C World Series in Longview, Texas, avoid the heat in the atmosphere and the heat of competition on the field.
The Pride, winners of the FASA Class C State Championship in June, will be part of an 10 team field trying to capture the World Series title starting on Saturday. The tournament will conclude Sunday.
When the Pride entered the tournament, they were supposed to be a part of the Recreational Division of the World Series. However, due to the lack of teams registering in that division, the Pride were moved up to the Class C division.
The movement up to Class C should not bother the young, talented group as they are playing some of the best softball they have played all summer long.
“If we can hit the ball like we have been, we have a good chance at being one of the top teams in the tournament this weekend,” stated Pride head coach Dr. Brandon Fontenot. “Right now we have four girls that can get in the circle and get the job done, but you have to be able to put the ball in play. Strikeouts will not whin games, no matter how good your pitching is.” “But, I have seen so much improvement in these girls over the past year as far as hitting is concerned,” Fontenot continued. “We will face some good competition, but I think we are ready to play.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of leagues cancelled their post-season tournaments, including PONY softball, the league the Ville Platte Girl’s Softball Association is affiliated with. Therefore, this group of girls were not going to be able to enjoy a chance at competing in the PONY World Series.
So, Fontenot, along with David and Sunny LaHaye, decided to form a team consisting of league players that would benefit from the extra play in the FASA organization.
“When the rec league got cancelled mid-season, I texted all the league coaches and asked if they had any girls they wanted to put up for all-stars, but I did not get any response,” said Fontenot. “So, we put together a group of girls that we had worked with before to go out and play in some tournaments.”
When Fontenot says “girls that we had worked with before”, he really means it. In fact, the core group of the Pride are girls that have played together since they were five-years old.
The Pride consists of girls that were the first T-Ball all-star team to come out of Ville Platte softball. During that all-star summer the team won the PONY sectional tournament, came out second in the PONY regional tournament and took third place in the PONY World Series.
As an eight-year old group, team members on the Pride won the USSSA State Tournament and competed in the USSSA World Series.
Last year those members played in the PONY World Series as nine-year olds competing against 10-year olds. So, to say they have some big time playing experience is an understatement.
Not only that, but the core of this group have also competed together in a number of fall ball tournaments as well.
This summer the Pride has competed in two FASA tournaments, winning both, the Class C State tournament mentioned earlier and the Southern Classic in Monroe. A third tournament, that was supposed to be held in Broussard this past weekend was cancelled.
With all of that tough competition the Pride will face this coming weekend, what is the key to making sure that the team stays on track?
“We are just going to have to work together as a team and play like we always do,” stated team member Layla Fontenot.
“We are going to have to make sure that we do not let the heat get to us and we are going to have to fight for everything we get,” said Maci Droddy.
According to Jenna Veillon the heat is an element that almost derailed the win in Monroe.
“We had to fight through a lot of heat when we played in Monroe and it made us not play very well on the Saturday of the tournament,” commented Veillon. “But, I just think it made us better.”
“My cleats actually melted on the turf,” said Carly Lafleur.
No matter what happens this coming weekend, the team is confident in their ability to go out and compete.
“The coaches have done a tremendous job of preparing us for every situation,” said Eliza LaHaye. “We are ready for the big things or little things that happen in a game.”