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The Patterson 10-year-old All-Stars knocked off undefeated Ville Platte twice Tuesday to win the Louisiana Dixie Youth South AAA Regional in Ruston.
After defeating Ville Platte, 5-0, in the first game, Patterson rallied in the fourth with three runs for an eventual 3-2 victory against Ville Platte in the tournament’s winner-take-all game. Patterson 10s coach Willis Dore’ said he thought his team had an advantage with Drew Dinger pitching Tuesday and a confident Ville Platte team that may take them lightly after handing Patterson its worst defeat of the postseason Sunday, 18-4.
“We thought if we could steal the first one, we could take the momentum from them,” Dore’ said.
Dinger and his teammates did their jobs in both games, and Patterson is moving on.
“It takes all 12, and everybody did their job and everybody wanted it,” Dore’ said.
Patterson will continue postseason play this weekend in a best-of-three series against North Regional winner Girard for the state championship in Alexandria. Games one will be played Friday at 5:30 p.m., with game two set for Saturday at 10 a.m. If needed, a third game also will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner of the state championship series will advance to the Dixie Youth AAA World Series, which will be held in Oxford, Alabama, Aug. 5-10.
Girard advanced to the state championship series after defeating West Carroll, 13-0, in the North Regional final Tuesday.
In Patterson’s game one win, the local squad’s pitching duo of Dinger and VJ Byrd held Ville Platte to just three hits, struck out 10 and walked just two. Dinger, who earned the win, pitched the first five innings and surrendered three hits, one walk, hit one batter and fanned 10. Byrd pitched an inning and walked one.
Offensively, Patterson scored two runs each in the first and fourth innings and another in the sixth.
Patterson outhit Ville Platte, 9-3.
Dinger led Patterson with a 3-for-3 performance with a double, a home run, two RBIs and a run scored.
Other top Patterson offensive contributors included Byrd, 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs; Braden Mouton and Dillon Richard, each 2-for-3 with two runs scored; Landon Bernadou, 1-for-2; and Brylon Jennings, an RBI.
In game two, Ville Platte scored single runs in the second and fourth innings for a 2-0 lead.
Patterson rallied in the bottom of the fourth with three runs, and neither team scored the remainder of the way.
Hits were even at nine apiece among the teams.
Byrd led Patterson with a 2-for-3 performance with a double and two RBIs. Other top Patterson offensive contributors included Jennings, 2-for-3 with an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored; Dinger, 2-for-3, a double and a run scored; Richard, 2-for-3, a run scored; and Bernadou, 1-for-2.
Mouton earned the win in relief. In 3.1 innings, he surrendered one run (one earned) on four hits with three walks and fanned seven. Byrd started the game, and in 2.2 innings, he surrendered one run (one earned) on five hits with two walks and fanned five.

Submitted Photo
Plans are in full swing for the Celebrate Berwick annual history program. This year’s event will be Saturday, Oct. 7, and will showcase the history of the trapping and seafood industries in Berwick. This outdoor program is a featured event of the Lighthouse Festival. Berwick Committee members are currently looking for memorabilia to display for the program. If anyone has pictures, articles or related items to lend for the event, please contact the Berwick Town Hall. Committee members pictured are, seated from left: Liz Griffin, Christine Henry, Juanita Lagarde, Mickey Pearson, Glenda Steakhouse, Janie Brasher and Eljean Nesmith. Standing: Jacki Ackel, Rodney Grow, Lud Henry, Randy Plessala, Alvin Willis, Dale Fanguy, Mary Ghirard and Damon Robison. Not shown are Charlie Ann Eues, Patsy Thomas, Gen Thorguson, Daisy Lodrigue and Deborah Lodrigue.

COVINGTON —Krewe Energy LLC, a privately held oil and gas exploration and production company based in Covington, has announced that it recently completed the acquisition of the Timbalier Bay Field located in Lafourche Parish.

The Timbalier Bay Field is a vintage south Louisiana property discovered in 1938 by Gulf Oil Corp. and ranks as one of the state of Louisiana’s top 10 fields based on cumulative production to date.

With this acquisition, Krewe Energy adds 8,270 acres (100 percent held-by-production) and a significant amount of crude oil production to its south Louisiana holdings. Krewe Energy has successfully accomplished its goal of doubling the company’s production rate by midyear 2017 and will be producing approximately 2,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day as a result of this transaction and now owns more than 15,000 leased acres in south Louisiana.

Barry Salsbury, managing partner of Krewe Energy, commented, “With the acquisition of Timbalier Bay, we have added a world class asset to our South Louisiana asset base and have effectively doubled our Company’s size.

"Krewe owns and operates approximately 100 percent of its existing asset base and, similarly, we acquired a 100 percent working interest in the Timbalier Bay Field. Krewe has built a team of talented engineers and geologists and, consistent with our company’s strategy, have commenced our efforts at Timbalier Bay to optimize production, reduce operating expense and initiate an internal full field study to identify additional production enhancement and future development opportunities.”

Krewe Energy continues to focus on the growth and further development of its existing asset base while also seeking additional acquisitions of mature assets within its core operating area of the Gulf Coast oil and gas trend.

Krewe is engaged in the acquisition, exploitation and development of producing oil and gas fields, with a specific focus on conventional production opportunities within the shallow state waters of the Gulf of Mexico, inland marsh and onshore areas of South Louisiana and the greater Gulf Coast region.

Even though qualifying just wrapped up last week and the primary elections will not be held for another three months, 54 percent of the races originally scheduled for the October ballot have already been settled.

No, this isn’t an electoral riddle.

There are 41 newly elected politicians in Louisiana because no one ran against them, and another 16 races have been cancelled because no one qualified for the government jobs.

These anomalies are part of the results of the three-day qualifying period that concluded Friday afternoon. That’s when candidates across Louisiana were invited to sign up for 105 local, regional and statewide elections with their clerks of court and the secretary of state.

While multi-candidate races are what voters are used to seeing and participating in, the opposite — single-candidate and no-candidate — happens quite frequently. In fact, it appears to be on the uptick in Louisiana.

“It’s my perception that this is a trend and, in my opinion, it’s starting to get some legs, so to speak,” said Secretary of State Tom Schedler. “It should be concerning to us all, that people are just kind of checking out. They’re getting sick of the politics. And it goes along with voter participation.”

That sentiment could be seen during qualifying in Schedler’s own office, where every state-level candidate except for three signed up on the first day, on Wednesday of last week. No one at all qualified on the second day of qualifying, on Thursday.

Most of the races this cycle that drew only a single candidates were on the local level, for positions like aldermen, selectmen, constables and justices of the peace.

They can be tough and demanding jobs that come with little to no fanfare, or what Schedler calls “true public service.”

“You just don’t have a lot of people playing in those races,” he added

But there were a few higher-profile voteless wins, beginning with District Judge-elect Suzanne de Mahy of New Iberia, who will be moving into the vacancy in the 16th Judicial District.

Additionally, Orleans Parish Civil Clerk Dale Atkins reached re-election this cycle in the same manner — by being the only name on the qualifying roster.

Others who were elected in Louisiana without opposition this cycle include:

— The mayors in the villages of Doyline, Elizabeth and Eros

— School board members in Livingston, St. John the Baptist and Tangipahoa parishes

— Parish councilmen in Iberia, Iberville and St. Mary parishes, and a police juror in Calcasieu Parish

As for those 16 elections that won’t be taking place as originally hoped because no one put their signature on paper, all hope is not lost.
Secretary of state spokesperson Meg Casper said in each instance a new vacancy will be triggered, the appropriating governing authority will make an interim appointment and a new election will eventually be called.

There are a number of constable and justice of the peace elections that were left vacant, and a single school board seat in Lafourche Parish that is in limbo as well. There were likewise several elections for mayor and chief of police in small villages that were ignored completely by candidates.

While this lack of participation is occurring during what election professionals call an “off year,” or a year with only a limited number of minor elections, Schedler and his staff have also seen it transpire during a recent active year.
Out of the 1,150 elections that were slated for the fall 2015 ballot, roughly 44 percent were decided due to single-candidate races by the time qualifying closed. It was a gubernatorial election year, so voters and candidates alike were certainly tuned in.
The situation was more telling in the Louisiana Legislature during that 2015 cycle. That was when nearly 50 percent of the House and Senate was already positioned to be sworn into office by the time the sign-up period ended.

Political History: Longevity
of Louisiana governors
Last weekend marked what would have been the 120th birthday of late Gov. Sam Houston Jones on July 15 and the 89th birthday of late Gov. Dave Treen on July 16.

Besides being born a day apart on the calendar, the two men shared much in common.

Both were Methodist lawyers from south Louisiana known for their good government and reform campaigns. Jones took on the Brothers Long (Huey and Earl) while Treen railed against the fast and loose style of fellow former Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Jones, in particular, kept that same focus on ethics as an elected governor. He instituted competitive bidding on contracts, signed the first major public records act and helped develop the state archives.

He also shares the same middle name as another Louisiana governor — Jimmie Houston Davis.

They said it
“The cliff is coming but the sky ain’t falling.”
—Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, commenting on the state’s so-called fiscal cliff

“It’s just like me — far from perfect — but I’m trying.”
—Chabert, on the new fiscal year budget

For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.