Let the World Series games begin!

For the second time in as many years, a Patterson softball all-star team will make a trip to the Babe Ruth World Series in Jensen Beach, Florida. The 12-year-old squad will participate in the tournament beginning Saturday, a year after the 10U squad finished third.
This year’s 12U squad features five returning players from last year’s 10U squad: Kamille Lightfoot, Emily Lipari, Bryleigh DeHart, Amaya Williams and Laila Dugar. Additionally, then-10U and now 12U Head Coach Harris DeHart returns along with assistant coach Jonathan Lightfoot. Another assistant this year, Ronald Dugar, attended last year’s World Series as a parent.
The veterans, part of a team that finished 5-2 combined in pool and bracket play at the 2016 World Series, are joined by several girls who played on a Patterson 10U All-Star squad that fell one game short of a World Series berth two years ago. Those team members are: Hilary Pillaro, Hailey Skiles, Ana Vaccarella, Mikah Ortiz, Olivia Black and Maggie Lemoine. Additionally, Patterson 12U Assistant Coach Patrick Skiles was an assistant on that 10U team two years ago.
Abbie Scully is a newcomer to this year’s 12U team.
This year’s team consists of players from Franklin to Bayou L’Ourse, although the majority is from the Patterson-to-Morgan City area.
Harris DeHart said it is “amazing” to be able to make a return trip to the World Series.
“We’re picking an all-star team of 12 kids from 40 kids in the recreation (league),” he said. “When you look at, say, JPRD (Jefferson Parish Recreation District), they’re probably choosing from a couple hundred kids, so to pull this kind of team from a small area like this, it’s really amazing that we can get this out of these kids.”
While he and his team do have experience from a year ago, Harris DeHart said the team has prepped for the World Series essentially the same way they did last year.
“We’re just trying to put everything together and keep it fresh in the girls’ heads,” he said last week.
Knowing what to expect at the World Series after going into the event blind a year ago can be helpful but hurtful depending on how one looks at it, Harris DeHart said.
“You know the competition that’s out there, so it makes you question: ‘Are you doing everything right? Are you doing this right? Are you doing this wrong?’’ he said.
However, it can help because you know what to expect, so you start preparing for it, DeHart added.
This year’s field includes 15 teams. In addition to Southwest Regional Champion and Louisiana state runner-up Patterson, Southwest Regional runner-up and Louisiana state champion Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East will attend and represent Louisiana, too. Other teams scheduled to attend are AYAL All-Stars (Maryland), Bethlehem All-Stars (Virginia), Bonkid (China), East Side All-Stars (Indiana), Ellensburg All-Stars (Ellensburg, Washington), JTown All-Stars (Kentucky), Lady Bucks (Iowa), Ridley (Pennsylvania), Salem Blue (Salem, New Hampshire), Shenandoah All-Stars (Virgin Islands), Southside Shake N Bake (Jacksonville, Florida), Stafford Shockwave (Virginia) and VPL All-Stars (Vineland, New Jersey).
Opening ceremonies and warm-up games are set for Saturday, while pool play will be held Sunday through Tuesday. Bracket play will be held Wednesday and Aug. 3, and the championship game is set for Aug. 4.
Patterson advanced to the World Series after a runner-up finish at the Babe Ruth Louisiana State Tournament at Kemper Williams Park near Patterson in June and after winning the Southwest Regional Tournament in Houma earlier this month.
Combined, Patterson is 9-3 this summer in non-exhibition games at the state and Southwest Regional. All three loses are to Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East, which beat Patterson twice at the state tournament and once at the Southwest Regional before Patterson won back-to-back games against Jefferson Parish Recreation Department to close the tournament with the championship.
At the state tournament, Patterson finished 5-2. The squad finished 4-1 at the Southwest Regional.
Patterson has outscored its opponents, 119-49. Patterson is averaging 9.9 runs a game and surrendering 4.1 runs a contest.
During each tournament, Patterson had to rally from the loser’s bracket. At the state tournament, Patterson dropped its second game before winning four straight. Patterson fell in a rain-shortened finale to Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East, 7-3, to finish as state runner-up.
At the Southwest Regional, Patterson won three games on the tournament’s final day, including back-to-back wins against Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East, to win the Southwest Regional title.