Diamond play begins for parish baseball teams

The 2015 baseball season gets under way this week for four parish schools. Sacred Heart, Ville Platte, Mamou and Pine Prairie have all been working really hard this off season in preparation for this year’s diamond play.
Evangeline Parish is filled with some of the best baseball and baseball players around the area. With that said, this will be a very interesting season on the diamond.
Sacred Heart is coming off a tremendous season. The Trojans 2014 journey took them all the way to the state championship game, where they took the state runner-up title. With some veteran leadership coming back off that team, Sacred Heart is confident in their chances of returning to the title game this season.
The Trojans compete in a very tough district against perennial baseball powers St. Ed’s, and Catholic of Pointe Coupee. The non-district schedule will include tough games against Marksville, Breaux Bridge, Westminster and Kinder.
Mamou also had an exciting season last year. The Demons earned the number 16 seed in the playoffs and defeated Newman High School in the first round. A loss to the number one seeded Oak Grove High School knocked Mamou out of the bracket in the regional round.
The Demons non-district schedule includes some of the best baseball programs around the area. Mamou has dates against Eunice, Crowley, Kinder and North Vermilion, just to name a few. The Demons will look to 2015 as a chance to take a deeper run in the playoffs.
Pine Prairie worked through a very tough schedule last year and turned it into a playoff berth. The Panthers garnered the number 24 seed and lost to the number nine seed Iowa. This season Pine Prairie will once again have a daunting schedule.
The Panthers will face stiff competition in non-district, with the likes of Sacred Heart, Avoyelles and Bolton in the lineup. On top of that, Pine Prairie competes in a very difficult district 5-3A. The Panthers hope to translate their schedule into another playoff berth.
Ville Platte has had some difficulty in the last few years being consistent. Still, the Bulldogs continue proving that they are improving in every aspect of the game. Ville Platte did not make the playoffs last season, but was able to score a few wins even with a very difficult schedule.
The Bulldogs face off against Avoyelles, Plainview, Oberlin and Elizabeth in the non-district portion of the season. District competition will once again be a formidable part of the schedule, as Ville Platte takes on the contenders of district 5-3A. With some hard work and improvement, the Bulldogs will try and put themselves in position for a playoff spot.