The Winn Dixie Youth tee ball “SweeTees” have been busy this summer, in both the district and state all star tournaments! This tenacious group of girls played in their district tournament at Parc Natchitoches the weekend of June 21st. They started off with a bang and beat the Jena all star team. They then moved on in the bracket to play Sabine all stars. Failing to win that game, the girls had to face LaSalle and came out with a win! This meant they had to face Sabine again.
The girls fell to the tough Sabine team once more but in doing so, secured the District 7 Runner Up title and a bid to the Louisiana State Dixie Youth Softball Tournament in Alexandria. The district tournament was the first time this group of girls had played any games together as a team, they knew what they had to do to improve! The coaches made a game plan and the girls dedicated the next week to practicing and improving their game. The team showed up July 5th at Johnny Downs Sports Complex ready for business. Beating Oakdale Friday night, the girls were matched up against Winnsboro Saturday evening and got the win!
Sunday night the Winn Dixie SweeTees met the Alexandria All Stars in bracket play. The home team played a tough game and the Winn SweeTees suffered a loss. Moving to the loser’s bracket, the girls once again came face to face with a familiar district foe, the Sabine All Stars! This time the girls were prepared, both teams battled the entire game but in the end the Winn SweeTees pulled out a nail biting win of 17-14. This set up another game against Alexandria. If the girls could secure a win it would force a game 2 which meant a winner takes all state championship game! The determination these young girls possessed was second to none, they beat the undefeated Alexandria team and forced a game 2! Unfortunately, they were unable to win back to back games.
Winn Dixie SweeTees are your Louisiana Dixie Youth SweeTee State Runners Up! The team also were voted to receive the coveted Sportsmanship Award for the state tournament, which is an honor the coaches, players and parents were extremely proud of. What’s even more impressive is that the team also earned a bid, with their top 2 finish, to the World Series! This is a feat that only this team can claim as no team from Winn Parish has ever earned a bid to the World Series! The SweeTees World Series is in Monroe, LA at the East Ouachita Sports Plex and begins on July 26th.
This is a special opportunity for our parish and this team, the girls would like to encourage our community to help them raise funds for hotel rooms, new jerseys and snacks and drinks for the weekend. Any businesses or community members interested in donating can reach out to Amanda Hubbard at 318-228-7477 with any fundraising questions. The girls will be hosting a bake sale and lemonade stand next weekend so keep any eye out for where to find them! A big shout out to our district sponsors who provided uniforms, bat bags, Gatorades and a small gift for each player-THANK YOU!
