Team Meets 50 Years Later
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Some brought gloves, baseballs were plentiful and a fungo bat was available.
Yet on this afternoon there was no hurry to shag fly balls or engage a round of BP.
After all, it was a sunny 90 degrees and the arms that were strong 50 years ago had evidently lost a bit of their velocity.
Still it became an enjoyable several hours at South City Park last weekend, as the 1975 Amy Bradford Ware baseball team gathered for a reunion and discussed the games and plays they still remember making 50 years ago.
The Rebels, who played in the Louisiana Independent School Association, finished 17-4 that season, with an unblemished district record and a trip to the state quarterfinals.
Despite a half century of separation, the players on the roster remain close, said Chris Soileau, who was a junior pitcher on that ABW team.
“Many of us on that team hadn’t played on the same teams until we got (to ABW), but there was talent and we all became close when we got to high school. All of us grew up around baseball, playing in the park,” Soileau said.
Chris Soileau said many of the players on the 1975 ABW team formed the core group of the Rebels’ American Legion team that year.
Their abilities coalesced for the high school team when the group arrived at ABW under Charles Soileau, a four-year infield starter at Northwestern State, who was in his first season as a baseball coach.
“That year was a tremendous experience. We had a great group of kids and they were fun to coach. I was fortunate to have a good group of parents and that year with their help and the loads of dirt they were able to obtain, we built a baseball field at the school and played our home games there,” said Charles Soileau.
However the players who arrived for the reunion, Charles Soileau said, carried a bit more weight now and most of them were more anxious to capture the shade in the softball field dugout instead of taking infield.
The group eventually opted for a seventh inning stretch that was held at a local pizza restaurant where the stories continued and the beer was poured long after dark, said Charles Soileau.
“I didn’t get home (in Baton Rouge) until about 10 o’clock that night. The guys were laughing and having such a good time, it was almost as though they didn’t want it to end,” said Soileau, who has umpired girls’ high school softball games for the last 20 years.
Chris Soileau said the ABW lineup was competitive in 1975..
Freddy Lafleur was the starting catcher, while senior Warren Boudreaux played first base and pitched.
Second baseman Michael Doucet and shortstop Randy Watts were mid-infielders, while third base was handled by a committee of Keith Richard, Soileau or Kenny Pitre, who also played second.
The outfield consisted of James Gibson, Greg DaGian, Bill Penick, Dennis Woodson and Steve Lafleur,, while Kent Fontenot also caught. Randy Devalcourt, Mark Richard and Donald Johnson were also team members, Charles Soileau said.
Nearly all of those teammates made the reunion, said Soileau.
“They had such a good time, there was talk of having another reunion soon. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen,” Charles Soileau said.
