VP Majors win District 7 Tournament

BY: TRACEY JAGNEAUX
Sports Editor

When all-star season begins, it is hard to predict how a team will do just from the simple fact that it takes time for a team to gel. Sometimes that process never occurs until a team has been knocked out of all-star competition all together.
Not so for the Ville Platte Dixie Youth Major all-stars. The 12U all-stars proved that this past week in the district 7 tournament, as Ville Platte went undefeated and took home the championship trophy.
Ville Platte dominated play in the district tournament. The all-stars not only went 5-0, but also outscored their opponents 44-1. On top of that, Ville Platte run-ruled three of the five opponents they faced.
“Overall, I think we played extremely well in the tournament,” stated head coach Stokie Fontenot. “We played as a team and everyone contributed to each win we had.”
Fontenot praised his pitching staff for the outstanding job holding opponents to just one run all tournament.
“Our pitching staff is deep and we used that to our advantage,” said Fontenot. “We stayed around the strike zone and have to continue to do that down the stretch.”
Here a rundown of the district games played.

Ville Platte vs. Sulphur
Ville Platte started the tournament in commanding fashion, as they posted a 10-0 win over Sulphur in five innings.
The all-stars had multiple three multiple run innings in the win over Sulphur.
After sitting Sulphur down in order in the top of the first, Ville Platte was able to put runners at first and second. However, they could not push any runs across in the inning.
Ville Platte got things rolling in the bottom of the second inning, scoring three runs on two hits.
The all-stars tacked on another four runs in the bottom of the third to take the 7-0 lead.
After going scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, Ville Platte needed only three more runs to induce the run-rule.
The boys in blue made sure of that plating their last three runs with on two hits.

Ville Platte vs. Oakdale
In game two, Ville Platte came out of the gates a little sluggish in the first two innings.
However, the all-stars turned up the heat on Oakdale going on a 9-0 run in the final four innings to take the 10-1 win over the Allen Parish squad.
Ville Platte got on the board first, plating a single run in the top of the first inning. Oakdale tied the game in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1.
Both teams were held scoreless in the second inning, but Ville Platte regained the lead by scoring two unanswered runs in the third inning, one of those runs was a solo home run by Mike Monier.
Neither Ville Platte nor Oakdale could plate any runs in the fourth inning. Ville Platte extended their lead to 7-1 in the fifth inning, getting three, aided by two walks and an error.
Ville Platte tacked only their final three runs in the top of the sixth to close out the win.
Ville Platte vs. V. Central
A masterful performance on the hill from Gabe Fontenot, Peyton Feutch and Noah Soileau propelled Ville Platte to a 12-0 run-rule win over Vernon Central in game three. The three combined to hold Vernon Central to zero hits while striking out nine opponents.
Ville Platte took the early 2-0 lead after the first inning. The all-stars could not manage to plate a run in the top of the second inning.
The Ville Platte offense got on track in the top of the third inning. Ville Platte scored six runs in the inning on two hits and three walks. The big hit in the inning was a three-run home run from Issac Leger.
Ville Platte finished the game by adding four more runs in the top of the fourth and striking out Vernon Central to end the game.

Ville Platte vs. Oakdale
Game four was a rematch versus Oakdale. The game was a little closer this time, with Ville Platte taking a 5-1 win over Oakdale.
Ville Platte struck first in the game, plating a single run in the bottom of the second. The all-star tacked on another run in the top of the third to go up 2-0.
Oakdale battled back to score a run in the top of the fourth and had bases loaded until Daegan Mitchell got the Oakdale hitter to fly out to right field for the final out in the inning.
Ville Platte closed out the game by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth and a single run in the bottom of the fifth.

Ville Platte vs. Vernon Central
Game five was for all the marbles, as Ville Platte only needed one more win to close out the tournament with the title.
Ville Platte could only manage one hit in the first three innings, but would not be denied the entire game as they defeated Vernon Central for the second time by the score of 7-0.
Ville Platte and Vernon Central were deadlocked in a scoreless game until the all-stars scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Noah Soileau.
Ville Platte tacked on six runs in the bottom of the fifth to close out the scoring. Soileau also did a masterful job on the mound for Ville Platte, throwing four complete relief innings, striking out nine opponents.