JPRD Girard Playground uses perfect game to win Dixie Youth World Series

The wait was worth it.

It was 61 years ago when a Jefferson Parish team won the Dixie Youth World Series.

For the first time since 1961, Jefferson Parish has another champion.

Cameron Guttierrez pitched a perfect game to lead Girard over the West Robeson (North Carolina) Majors in the championship game Thursday morning at Lumberton, North Carolina in the 12-and-under event.

Austen Guedry provided all the offense Girard needed, belting a home run.

Girard scored a run in the first inning and added two more in the third to complete the scoring.

Guttierrez was he master of all he surveyed, striking out 14 of the 18 batters he faced, with only one ball leaving the infield, according to head coach Derek Delatte, who has been coaching the Girard All-Stars for two decades. This was the fourth team Delatte has taken to the World Series.

“This team got it done,” Delatte said. “It was a complete team effort.”

The road to the title was full of land mines.

“We really had the hardest bracket,” Delatte said. “We had a really bad draw. We got to play Virginia first. North Carolina drew the bye so they were sitting there with their ace for game two. We won that game and Alabama was sitting there off a bye with their ace. We won that game.”

All the while, the resolve and the faith in each other was strong for the winners.

“We had a hard road to go but these ballplayers, they really played well, they came out determined,” Delatte said. “They knew they could do it. They believed in themselves and I believed in them.”

Delatte reserved special praise for Guttierrez.

“Hats off to Cameron,” Delatte said. “In life, I always teach my kids that the only person who’s perfect is God. I’ve been saying that for like 20 years. Of course, I did not know Cameron was actually going to be perfect today.”

It was the second win for Girard over West Robeson in the tournament as the Vikings defeated the Majors 7-4 on Sunday.

Girard went unbeaten on the season, winning all of its All-Star games heading into the national tournament.

Dakota Locklear too the loss for West Robeson.

What did the team do to celebrate?

“We took the team bowling, they wanted to go bowling,” Delatte said. “We had fun. Thank goodness it was a baseball tournament and not a bowling tournament. I don’t think any of these boys will be trying out for their school (bowling) team. Blake Pitts of our team, he is the worst bowler I’ve seen in my life.”

As for the future, stay tuned to see many of the championship team members playing a school near you.

“You’ll see a lot of them playing in the Catholic League over the next couple of years, for sure,” Delatte said.