A fight to the finish

It was a most productive season for the Ville Platte Girls Softball Association 10U All-Stars.
These young ladies ran through their preseason tournaments and the sectional tournament undefeated, despite all of them being one year younger than the teams that they faced throughout the summer.
It was not until the regional tournament that Ville Platte faltered, coming out third place.
Using that confidence, the team traveled to Youngsville last weekend to compete in the PONY World Series hoping to repeat what they had accomplished a year before as eight year-olds; a championship title.
Even though the all-stars did not get to grasp the trophy at the end, these ladies showed that age is not a factor in how hard you play, as they placed fifth out of 22 teams.
“I thought that we matured so much throughout the season,” said head coach Shane Darbonne. “That showed even more in the World Series, especially when we lost a key player to an injury. I saw a team grow up in that tournament and really pull together to continue playing as a team. For a team of all nine-year olds to come here and compete at this level is special. We are really going to be a force next year.”
Ville Platte began in pool play against Los Frensos, Texas and had to adjust to a different line-up and positions to fill in for the injured Taylor Darbonne. Because of that adjustment, Ville Platte fell 5-4.
But, it did not take Ville Platte long to quickly correct their course, as they slipped past Round Rock, Texas in the second pool game by the score of 6-5.
Ville Platte had to play one more pool game and wound up taking on Round Rock once again because there were only three teams in their pool. The result was the same, as Ville Platte defeated Round Rock by one run, 7-6.
The vaunted Ville Platte offense came alive in the first bracket game, as the all-stars plated double digits in an 11-4 win over Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ville Platte moved on in the bracket to face off against Weslaco, Texas. The Evangeline Parish crew rallied in the final two innings to take a close 7-6 win.
Defense and pitching were the name of the game for Ville Platte in their next bracket game, as the all-stars held Laredo, Texas to zero runs in the first three innings in a 9-3 victory.
The progression in the winner’s bracket put Ville Platte face to face with the eventual World Series champions, the Texas Blasters. Ville Platte fought hard against a good team, but fell just short in a 9-5 loss.
Ville Platte’s final game of the tournament was against a familiar opponent, Weslaco. This time, Ville Platte could not find the momentum carried in the previous games, as they fell 8-4.
Darbonne looks at the play of his team as a crystal ball into the future.
“These girls have now had a taste of fast pitch softball,” commented Darbonne. “Now they know what to expect. This experience will go a long way in how they approach the game.”
Darbonne was very appreciative of all the support shown to the team throughout the summer.
“The parents were so great,” said Darbonne. “They let the coaches do their job and showed confidence in us. Having good assistant coaches like James Shiver and Todd Ardoin that brought a ton of knowledge with them helped me to be a better coach. The fans and supporters motivated us even more.”