MAMOU -- The Ville Platte Dixie Youth 12U All-Stars made a clear statement Thursday afternoon that they are a team to be reckoned with in the District 7 Tournament as they blasted past South Beauregard 12-1 in opening day play.
With the win the All-Stars advanced in the winner’s bracket and was scheduled to play Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The tournament continues on through Tuesday when the championship game will be played. The Gazette will have the results of the rest of Ville Platte’s games in Thursday’s edition.
Against South Beauregard, Ville Platte did what they needed to offensively, defensively and on the mound to get the huge win. At the plate, the All-Stars collected 12 hits while the Ville Platte pitching staff held South Beauregard to only two total base hits.
Defensively, the All-Stars only committed one error the entire game and even turned a double play midway through the contest.
Ville Platte jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after their first at bat in the top of the initial inning. Hayden Deshotel, John Michael Duplechin and Jude Hebert led things off with back-to-back-to back singles, scoring two of those five runs.
Two batters later, Tristan Mayeux connected on a base hit, driving in two more for the All-Stars. Mayeux would score after an error and a fielder’s choice to put Ville Platte up 5-0 after one complete inning of play.
The two teams could not find any offense in the second inning, keeping Ville Platte with a five run advantage. The All-Stars came back in the top of the third and added two more runs.
Sam Veillion drew a lead off walk and moved to second on a base hit by Deshotel. A wild pitch pushed the two Ville Platte runners up a base.
Following a strike out, Veillion was able to touch base on a fielder’s choice from the South Beauregard shortstop. One batter later Gabe Fontenot singled home Deshotel to put the All-Stars up 7-0.
Ville Platte blanked South Beauregard in the bottom of the third and then proceeded to add another run in the top of the fourth. With two outs Jedd Lafleur drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Kaigan Comb followed with a free pass to first base. Both Lafleur and Comb moved up a bag on another wild pitch. An error by the South Beauregard third baseman allowed Lafleur to reach the plate and put Ville Platte up by eight runs.
South Beauregard finally got a run across in the bottom of the fourth. Two walks, a base hit and a wild pitch allowed Ethan Manuel to score, cutting the Ville Platte lead back down to seven.
Undeterred and in command, the All-Stars pushed two more runs across in the top of the fifth on four hits, as Mayeux and Hebert both touched home plate to make it a 10-2 game.
Ville Platte tacked on their final two runs in the top half of the sixth inning. The big hit was a bases loaded double off of the bat of Zac Fontenot with two outs.
Deshotel and Hebert went 2 for 4 while Mayeux was 2 for 3.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX Sports Editor