Making their presence known

RUSTON -- Timing is everything, especially in the arena of sports.
The Ville Platte Dixie Youth Minor All-Stars found that out the hard way this past week here at the Regional Tournament.
Ville Platte came into the tournament undefeated in all-star play and were the only team without a loss in the Regional Tournament when Tuesday rolled around. That meant that they needed only one more win to advance on to the State Championship Series.
Unfortunately for Ville Platte the type of game that put them in that position did not show up against Patterson, as the boys in blue fell twice to the St. Mary Parish squad and lost the opportunity to advance.
Despite the two losses on Tuesday, Ville Platte head coach Jason Deshotel was tremendously exuberant in his description of the transformation of his team over the course of the all-star season.
“We have a great team, especially our defense,” stated Deshotel. “These guys got better and better every game. They are twice as good right now as they were when they started the season. I am so proud of them. They never quit and gave us one thousand percent every time they took the field.”
Ville Platte looked unbeatable in their first four games of the tournament. The All-Stars began play on Saturday against Blanchard. That game was supposed to take place on Friday, but a huge rainstorm came through, delaying the tournament by one day.
In that first game, Ville Platte opened the offensive floodgates scoring 11 runs on 11 hits in an 11-0 run-rule win. Ville Platte pitching was just as dominating allowing only three base runners while striking out seven.
Because of the wash out on Friday, Ville Platte was forced to play game two against Gonzales Saturday afternoon. That contest showed eerie similarities to game one.
Ville Platte posted 10 runs on six hits and motored past Gonzales 10-0 in five innings. Once again, pitching played a huge role in the win, as Ville Platte garnered eight strikeouts and relinquished only three base runners.
Against Patterson in game three, Ville Platte found themselves in unfamiliar territory; having to come from behind. The All-Stars jumped out to a 2-0 after the top of the first, but found themselves down 4-2 after Patterson’s plate appearance.
However, Ville Platte regrouped and scored 16 runs over the last four innings, including 10 runs in the fifth, to score an 18-4 win.
Ville Platte followed that win up with a 10-0 win over Gonzales in game three and found themselves one win away from the tourney title having to beat Patterson once again.
But, Patterson had other plans. Having to defeat Ville Platte twice, Patterson came out ready to play and shut down the vaunted Ville Platte offense allowing no runs on only one hit in a 5-0 win.
Still, with the loss, Ville Platte had another chance to right the ship and take home the championship. This time, however, it was the inefficiency of the Ville Platte offense in run producing situations that doomed them.
Ville Platte left seven runners in scoring position and produced only two runs in a 3-2 loss.
“Our hitting really struggled, especially the last two games,” said Deshotel. “That is really what did us in. I thought we played great defense all tournament and got some great pitching efforts. Patterson is a good, solid team. Hats off to them.”
Deshotel was extremely complementarity of his coaching staff and the parents and fans that aided in the team’s success.
“I really want to thank my two assistant coaches, Jared Fontenot and Stokie Fontenot,” commented Deshotel. “They really provided the team with a ton of leadership and knowledge. Also, Brent Duplechin and Delaney Fontenot really stepped up and volunteered their time and energy to help us get better every day,”
“The parents and fans were tremendous,” he continued. “We flooded the hotel with Ville Platte fans. We had the biggest crowds out here. Ville Platte has the most amazing fan base.”