New Orleans-area Little League team comes up huge on biggest stage

"Louisiana is your Little League World Series Champion!" #LLWS pic.twitter.com/qtnhWEs3sB

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 25, 2019

For years, I have heard the comments about the Little League World Series.

Why are the networks showcasing young adolescents? Isn’t it a bit much for children to get this kind of attention and be saddled with the undeniable pressure put on them in the process?

Then again, watching the spectacle annually has been refreshing. You simply have to keep things in perspective, not to blow the entire experience out of its natural order.

The attendance in Williamsport is fabulous. The networks (ABC/ESPN) certainly would not give up so much air time for the event unless there was an audience. There was certainly a huge audience in south Louisiana, if not throughout the state.

This time around, there was a special interest in the event with an area team based on the East Bank of Jefferson Parish with players from around the metro New Orleans area.

Consider the obvious.

This team from the Greater New Orleans area defeated teams from much larger metropolitan areas, much larger states and then finally from another country to win a national championship. It is mind boggling and, at the very least, an amazing accomplishment.

Scott Frazier is not a baseball dad.

The head coach of the championship squad does it for his love of the game. He and his wife actually have two daughters.

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Of course, Frazier was an outstanding first baseman at Archbishop Rummel under Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame inductee Larry Schneider back in the late 1980’s and was an integral part of a state championship team with the Raiders in 1989.

When I had Scott on our radio show with Ed Daniels and me this past Saturday morning, he said his team was already a winner, regardless of the outcome of their United States championship game with Hawaii, a team which had beaten the Louisiana squad to open the World Series.

Amazingly, Louisiana roared all the way back from that loss to win it all, an amazing accomplishment. The young men won six games in eight days to claim the title.

That included a win over Hawaii, 9-5, to exact revenge for the national title.

To cap their run, the Louisiana team dominated Curacao, a terrific team, in the World Series championship game. In the 8-0 win, Egan Prather pitched a complete game two-hitter. He walked no one and struck out six in a masterful performance, using 88 pitches.

Southwest wins! #LLWS pic.twitter.com/Fe7e9T602p

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 25, 2019

Prather was fantastic throughout the series. He posted two victories and struck out 19 in just 14 1/3 innings.

The River Ridge-based squad played flawless, errorless defense as well while the offense pounded out 10 hits in the six-inning affair.

Ryan Darrah drove in a pair of runs and Marshall Louque had a pair of RBI doubles and an RBI single.

Most notable was the performance of Reece Roussel, who had two doubles and drove in a run to finish the World Series by setting an event record with 17 hits, including seven doubles. Roussel batted a scalding .739 for the World Series (17-of-23). Louque also had seven doubles in the World Series.

It was truly the definition of a team effort.

All 13 players on the team roster had a least one hit in the World Series.

Frazier was the perfect leader for the Louisiana squad. His positive attitude throughout was evident and it clearly rubbed off on his players, who showed no strain or stress in accomplishing something that will be etched in their memories and the memories of many others for a lifetime.

CHAMPIONS. #LLWS pic.twitter.com/4P9MrdDhYQ

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 25, 2019

The Little League team from the New Orleans area came up as big as possible on the biggest stage there is. In the tradition of baseball, here is a big tip of the cap to Frazier and his terrific team.

From the boot to the banner.

Here's how Louisiana's Eastbank Little League won the Southwest Region en route to the 2019 #LLWS Championship. pic.twitter.com/qw33LzPjMK

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 25, 2019