It was 10:00 pm on Tuesday night. Patrick Staggs, April Simonelli, Tamala Keiffer and Corey Aldy had 12 young ladies, from the age of eight and under, on their hands far from home in Sterlington, LA. What in the world was so many young girls doing up this late at night and so far away from home? Celebrating their championship in the Little League 8u Coach Pitch Softball All Star Tournament. 

Crowning achievement! Jackson Parish earned the title by pounding out 23 hits to beat Shreveport 18-8 in the second of two title games. Shreveport had forced a second game by rallying from an 11-10 deficit in the fourth inning to take a 15-13 win. In earlier action Jackson Parish beat West Ouachita 19-5 in their opener of the seven team tourney and then slipped past Bossier 14-13 to earn the right to play for the championship. 

Offensive onslaught! From the very first inning of the first game the locals came out swinging heavy lumber. The team stats compiled are amazing from a group so young. Sixty four runs were scored in four games. That is an average of 16 runs per game. Ninety-six hits were registered in 141 at bats which compiles to an incredible .681 team average. Among the hits were 19 doubles, 7 triples and 13 home runs, including 8 round trippers in the final game alone. 

Individual accolades! It is rare among players so young to have a couple of batters reach base half of the time they come to the plate. Incredibly eight JP players hit over .700 for the tournament. with one (Faith Burns) connecting for a perfect 13 hits in 13 at bats. Check out these stats: