Machine pitch all-stars gear up for state tourney

BY: TRACEY JAGNEAUX
Sports Editor

As the start of the Dixie Youth Machine Pitch State Tournament creeps ever so close, the Ville Platte all-stars are gearing up for the challenges that lie ahead.
The tournament, played in Vidalia, begins today and runs through Saturday.
There will be 24 teams, divided into four pools of six teams. Each team in the pool will play a round robin schedule and the winner of each pool will move on to bracket play on Saturday and Sunday. Bracket play will be a double elimination format of the pool winners.
Ville Platte will be in pool B. The all-stars open play at 5 p.m. today.
Ville Platte will return to action tomorrow, as they will play three more games in their pool. The first game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Game two will start at 2 p.m.
The final game of the day will see Ville Platte take on the host Concordia all-stars at 5:45 p.m.
The lone pool game for Ville Platte on Saturday will begin at 11:30 a.m.
So how have the all-stars been gearing up for the state tournament? According to head coach Ched Fontenot, the team has been ironing out a few wrinkles.
“We have been working on trying to hit the ball with more power since the district tournament,” said Fontenot. “The coaches were happy with our offense, we just want to see more power in the bats going into the state tournament.”
According to Fontenot, the mental aspect of the game has also been an area in need of tweaking.
“I thought that we coached too much from the dugout in district,” stated Fontenot. “We need to get them to be able to think a little more about situations on the field. So we have been working on helping them to understand different scenarios that could occur during a game.”
After the district tournament, the all-stars took a one day break from practice, but then went right back to work.
One of the top items on the agenda the first day back to practice was a team meeting.
“When we came back to practice on Tuesday after the district tournament, the coaches sat down and talked to them about what it meant to play in the state tournament,” said Fontenot. “We told them that we were very proud of them and that we are a very good team. But, we also told them that we would be playing against some great teams. So if they want to compete, they must move in the direction of being a great team.”