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The winning atmosphere appears to be back for South Terrebonne baseball.
They are the 2011 Swampland Champions.
After two-straight varsity seasons missing the Class 5A state playoffs, the Gators bounced back this summer, taking home the title Thursday afternoon, with a 6-2 win against Central Lafourche.
Players rejoiced in triumph of their accomplishment and their coach said he felt relief knowing his players now believe they can win again, something they missed for the past few seasons.
“The last two years, we were a .500 ball club,” SLB coach and South Terrebonne assistant coach Pernell Pellegrin said. “You could kind of tell that the kids were getting to the point to where they thought, ‘This is who we are. We’re a .500 team.’ But we just had to tell them, ‘No guys, this is not who we are.’ … This summer proved that to be true.”
As with any elongated baseball tournament, pitching was at a premium throughout the Swampland playoffs.
With the championship hanging in the balance and the Gators’ top arms mostly unavailable, Pellegrin turned to unseasoned junior varsity pitcher Sam White on the mound.
The pitcher responded, allowing two runs in just more than three innings of work, leaving the game with his team leading 3-2.
“I just asked him to give us a chance to win and he pitched us into the fourth inning,” Pellegrin said. “He did exactly what we needed him to do.”
With the team in the driver’s seat in the middle innings, Pellegrin turned to his horse to bring the title home.
Joshua Trujillo saved the game and the championship, finishing with four scoreless innings.
“He threw eight innings on Monday, so I knew we couldn’t get a ton out of him,” Pellegrin said. “But I asked him for two innings and he gave me four, so again, what more could you ask for?”
“It feels really good,” Trujillo added. “We couldn’t wait for the championship game. When I got in there, I was just trying to give it my all to get us this one final win.”
With Trujillo on the mound throwing darts, SLB extended its lead to 5-2 with a two-run fifth inning.
They added a sixth-inning run to stretch the lead to its final margin.
Leading the offensive charge for the future Gators were sluggers like Trujillo, catcher Zachary LeBeouf and shortstop Britt Pellegrin, who all recorded clutch hits, not only Thursday, but throughout the entire summer season and postseason.
“Flat out, they out hit us,” Central Lafourche coach Scott Duplantis said. “They got it done when they needed to and we didn’t. It was just one of those days where they were better than us today.”
With the summer season now complete, it’s time to rest for the Gators, who tout they will hold their heads high going into the new season, knowing they can compete with anyone.
“Our confidence is really high, it’s great,” LeBeouf said. “We played as a team and we really meshed this summer.”
“We’re back where we want to be with a winning atmosphere,” the coach added. “When we got here this summer, we had a major goal. We wanted to establish that when we got here, we expected to win. We didn’t hope to win. We expected to win. And even before today, that mission was accomplished. Today was just lagniappe.”
Celebration is still in order for some.
With the Swampland playoffs lingering late into the week because of rain and SLB continuing to advance into the later rounds, one Gator admits he’s been missing out on some family fun in the midst of all of this winning.
As sports tradition holds, he’s now headed for that special vacation that every athlete dreams of making.
“I’ve been supposed to be on vacation for three days now, so I’m ready to go,” Britt Pellegrin said with a laugh. “I’m going to Disney World. This was a good way to start that trip on the right foot.”
When he visits Mickey, he’ll be visiting him as a summer league champion.
South Terrebonne catcher Zachary LeBeouf dodges a tag during a game this past season. LeBeouf was a key cog in South Louisiana Bank’s Swampland championship this summer. CASEY GISCLAIR
