Patterson to face JPRD East in an All-Louisiana 12U final at the Babe Ruth Softball World Series

The only thing certain heading into Friday’s Babe Ruth Softball 12U World Series finals is that the championship will be coming back to south Louisiana.
Whether it comes back to southeastern Louisiana or further west toward Cajun Country, that will be decided when No. 5 Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East (11-3-1 combined in state, Southwest Regional and World Series non-exhibition play) and No. 3 Patterson (14-3) meet in the 4 p.m. finals.
It will be a matchup of teams that are familiar with one another as the two squads have faced of six times in state and Southwest Regional non-exhibition action. Each team has three wins against the other.
“JPRD has always been the team for us to beat,” Patterson coach Harris DeHart said. “This year was actually the first year we ever beat them. We beat the West, and we beat the East.”
At the state tournament in June, Patterson fell to Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East in a rain-shortened, winner-take-all finals, while at the Southwest Regional final last month in Houma, Patterson erupted for a 13-0 victory against the New Orleans-area squad to win the regional title.
Prior to the winner-take-all finals at the Southwest Regionals, none of the wins by either team were blowouts.
DeHart said he is hopeful Patterson can bring the success from that last game against JPRD East into the world series final and win the event.
“I expect a fight,” DeHart said Thursday of his expectations for Friday’s game. “They’re a good team. The last game, if they pitched a ball, we didn’t swing. We were seeing balls and strikes, and when it was a strike, we were hitting it, so hopefully we can come out tomorrow and do the same thing.”
Patterson has not lost in the World Series this year, combining for a 6-0 mark in pool and bracket play. The local squad, which has outscored opponents in the two levels of competition a combined 57-13, has 12U’s lone perfect record at the World Series.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Parish enters the finals not far behind, record wise, with a combined 5-0-1 mark in pool and bracket play. The team's tie was recorded Tuesday when games were shortened to 75 minutes as the tournament squeezed in Monday’s games washed out by Tropical Storm Emily and Tuesday’s regularly scheduled games.
Jefferson Parish has outscored its opponents a combined 63-6 in the two rounds of competition.