By: TRACEY
JAGNEAUX
Sports Editor
Two of Ville Platte’s finest softball teams took to the diamonds this past weekend to compete at the Fastpitch America Softball Association (FASA) Louisiana Fleur De Lis State Championship held in Broussard and Youngsville.
One of those teams, the Ville Platte Pride, a 10U recreational squad managed to fight off the rain and movement of the tournament to take home the Class C title. The group, put together from players in the Ville Platte Girl’s Softball Association, “represented Ville Platte well and never gave up”, according to coach Brandon Fontenot.
Meanwhile in the 14U age group, the Trojan Fury, battled the elements to bring back a third place finish in a very tough division.
Here is a rundown of the games played by both teams throughout the tournament.
Ville Platte Pride
After a morning of two pool games, the Pride got off to a roaring start by taking down the Walkoffs 15-7 in the first bracket game Saturday afternoon.
The Pride put up six big runs in the first inning and two more in the second inning to own a slim 8-5 lead. But, not letting the bats cool too much, the Pride struck for seven more runs in the third inning to grab their first win of tournament play.
In game two Saturday afternoon, the Pride continued their hot streak at the plate by crushing Ballistic 9-3. The contest began with neither team able to put up points in the first inning.
The Pride made up for it with six runs over the next two innings. After a two run inning from Ballistic, Ville Platte finished the game with three runs of their own in their final at bat.
A closer contest came in the Pride’s third bracket game Sunday morning, as they were able to hold off Fierce by the score of 2-1.
It was Fierce that struck first in the game, plating a solo run in the first inning. However, the Pride never gave up hope, scoring their two runs in their final at bat of the game. The win put the Pride into the winner’s bracket finals.
The only slip up of the tournament for the Pride came in the next contest. With a shot at the finals on the line, the Pride fell to the Cajun Express by one run, 3-2. That loss dropped the Pride into the loser’s bracket.
Nevertheless, the Pride did not let that deter them on their quest for the title. The very next game, the Pride answered the loss with a resounding 10-4 win over Fierce, putting them in the finals.
With revenge on their mind, the Pride wasted no time in their 9-3 win over Cajun Express. In that game, the Pride scored crooked numbers in every inning, including four runs in the second inning.
Trojan Fury
The Trojan Fury began the tournament with two wins in pool play. The first pool game saw the Fury defeat Louisiana Voodoo 3-0, while the second pool game had the Fury taking down the Lady Legendz 5-4.
With those two victories under their belt, the Fury began bracket play on the right foot Saturday afternoon with a resounding 11-2 victory over the Prospects.
That first bracket game belonged to the Prospects at first, as they took a 2-1 lead over the Fury after one inning of play. Eventually, the Fury got the bats going, plating seven runs in the third and three more runs in the fourth to walk away with the win.
Bracket game two was a wild one for the Fury. In that contest, the Fury had to rally back from a three run deficit to collect a 9-8 win over Cajun Assault.
Fury began with a 2-1 lead heading into the second inning, but allowed Cajun Assault to gain an 8-5 advantage as the fourth inning came to a close. The Fury revived their offense enough to pick up four runs in the fifth inning to seal the win.
Close games seemed to be the trend for the Fury as they survived another one run game for a 4-3 victory over the Prodigy in bracket game number three on Sunday.
The Fury held control of the game, leading 4-0 heading into the fourth inning. The Prodigy began a slow climb back into the game, picking up three runs in their final at bat, forcing the Fury pitching and defense to hold off the attack.
The Fury ended their run with losses to the Thunder (8-6) and the Prodigy (7-0).