Parish dominates regional

12U World Series bound

St. Charles Parish showed the country that some of the best softball is played in the area, with three teams winning their age divisions in the Babe Ruth Southwest Regional.

Five parish teams participated in the tournament after winning state. Three of those teams, the 8U, 12U and 14U squads, cruised through a regional bracket that included teams from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana to claim the championship.

Nick Brocato, the head coach of the 12U squad, said he was extremely proud of his team’s performance.

“This group of girls has worked so hard to get this far,” he said. “Their goal is to win it all.”

The St. Charles Parish 12U team will now head to the Babe Ruth World Series in Alachua, Fla. There, they will face seven other regional champions from across the country.

“I don’t know if words can really describe how excited they are,” Brocato said. “It’s a thrill and an honor and something the girls have worked towards for a long time.”

The 12U Babe Ruth World Series takes place from Aug. 4-8.

While there isn’t an 8U World Series, that St. Charles squad will head to a national tournament in Gulfport. Nicole Oubre, the head coach of the 8U team, said that her players were really pumped about the regional title.

“I was extremely proud and the girls worked really hard,” she said. “I gave the whole team the MVP award because they came together and made great plays that were unusual for kids of their age to make.”

The Babe Ruth league does not have a national or World Series tournament for the 14U division. Still, coach Neil Legendre is proud of the squad for going undefeated against teams from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana on their way to the regional championship.

“I’m so very proud of how we played. These girls practiced very hard to get to this level of play, and it showed in their performance on the field,” Legendre said. “We constantly put pressure on our opponents and never let up. This team is very competitive, but they knew how to have fun along the way and that’s what made this such a great experience.”

All three regional champs from St. Charles went undefeated in the tournament.