UL baseball team has Abbeville connection

The Ragin Cajun baseball team may not have a Vermilion Parish player on its roster, but there is an Abbeville connection.
Jace Conrad is the Cajuns’ second baseman and leads the team in hitting with a .377 batting average, along with 65 RBIs and nine home runs. Conrad is a Lafayette High graduate. When he was 12, his Lafayette all-star team played in the Little League World Series.
This year, he has helped ignite the Cajuns into the NCAA Super Regional being played this weekend in Lafayette.
The Abbeville connection is Jace’s mother. Her name is Dimet Guarino Conrad, a Vermilion Catholic High graduate. Dimet graduated VC in the late 1970s.
Dimet’s parents, Mac and ‘Taunt” Guarino live in Abbeville and are in their 80s. They have fallen in love with the Cajuns and attend every home game, including last week’s regional games and this weekend’s sub regional games.
They have season tickets right along the first base line - giving them a clear view of their grandson, who plays second base.
“It is exciting,” said Mac about the Cajuns season. “It reminds us when we watched Jace play in the Little League World Series. We watched him back then, and we are hoping to watch him play in Omaha, Nebraska in the College World Series.”
One thing they are having a hard time adjusting to is seeing their grandson with a full grown beard. The Cajun players began growing full beards at the start of the season and because of their success, the beards remained. Chase has one of the fullest beards on the team.
Taunt said she can not wait until he shaves it off because her grandson is “too good looking to have a beard.”
The Guarinos are a close nit family. Taunt said she talked to Jace Thursday and asked him if it was OK if the local newspaper interviewed them about him. Jace gave them his blessing.
Taunt also talks to her daughter regularly and baseball is a common subject between the two.
“Dimet has been great,” said Taunt. “She has helped contribute to their goals. She is positive when they are playing. She has been one of their biggest fans.”
The Guarinos have a total of seven grandchildren. Dimet has two other sons, Grant, who is older than Conrad, and Brenn, who is the youngest.
Grant is a minor league umpire today, and Grant is attending UL.
“I love baseball,” said Taunt. "It is a great game. One moment your heart melts because of an error. The next moment it can explode.”