Gulf Coast Bank 29ers place third

All but one team that took part in the American Legion state tournament was going to come up short of the goal of winning a championship.
Such is the case for postseason play.
Unfortunately for the Gulf Coast Bank 29ers, they were one of the teams that came up short, falling 11-2 Tuesday to Jesuit High School-based Retif Oil. The loss marked the 29ers’ second of the double-elimination tourney.
The 29ers did, however, accomplish much between the time of their arrival in New Orleans last weekend and the game that ended their season Tuesday afternoon.
“I am just so proud of these guys,” 29ers head coach Darin Desormeaux said. “Talking to the crowd and others involved, we became the underdogs or Cinderellas of the tournament.
“I think most people expected us to be traveling home on Sunday.”
Instead, the 29ers won a pair of games, reached the semifinals and brought home a third-place finish in state.
“The state American Legion director explained to me that we finished third,” Desormeaux said. “I told him I wasn’t looking for extra credit. He said he wasn’t giving any credit besides the credit that is deserved.
“I told him that is fair enough.”
And indeed well earned.
“Our guys dug deep,” Desormeaux said. “I think they showed a lot of people what they are capable of doing. There were five college scouts watching our game on Monday. As the game went on, they brought out their radar gun and started timing our pitchers. They started getting the pop time on our catcher. You saw them making notes on position players.
“It’s safe to say that we caught a lot of attention and became a team that people were talking about.”
In talking about Tuesday’s game, Desormeaux said Retif Oil’s quick start proved too much to overcome.
“After the third inning,” Desormeaux explained, “they had nine runs on five hits. We were on the positive side of that on Monday. On Tuesday we were just on the negative side of that. I thought our pitchers threw decent, but we just didn’t get the big outs and the other team converted.
“That is just the game of baseball.”
Retif Oils’ Brandon Briuglio took a ho-hit bid into the sixth inning. Gulf Coast Bank catcher Charles Gallusier ended that streak when he singled, before later scoring on a double by Drake Broussard. Ryan Meaux drove home the other run with an RBI single in the seventh.
In all, Briuglio, who will be a junior at Jesuit, tossed eight innings. Desormeaux complemented his effort.
“Hats off to him,” Desormeaux said. “He really had us off balance. The boys described his delivery as being ‘weird’ and hard to pick up.
“He did an outstanding job.”
So did the American Legion, both the local Post 29, as well as the state, in conducting the tournament, according to Desormeaux.
“Not one of our baseball coaches or players had to spend a dollar,” Desormeaux said. “They put us up in a hotel and the state American Legion fed us two meals a day. What ever meal the state did not provide, the Abbeville Post 29 did. So we had three meals a day. When you got to the field, there was direction on where to go and the rules were very, very clear. They had three umpires per game, who where very professional.
“It was a breath of fresh air, I can tell you that. It was a nice, enjoyable tournament.”
The same can be said about the entire Legion season, which served as Desormeaux’s first as coach of the 29ers.
“I have no regrets from the summer,” Desormeaux said, “and if the good Lord is willing, I will be back next year to do it all again.”
Desormeaux said it is simply the players who made the season such a great experience.
“I am proud to have coached a great group of boys,” Desormeaux said. “The state director complimented them on their behavior throughout the week. He said we have a class act of boys, both winning and losing.
“They represented Vermilion Parish very well.”