One of my Baseball Bucket List items for the 2024 season is to get to all three of the stadiums or fields used by the Louisiana teams in the Texas Collegiate League.
They include the Acadiana Cane Cutters, the Baton Rouge Rougarou and the new Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators - and I have until the end of July to make it happen.
I noticed that the Gumbeaux Gators' opener was at the home field of McNeese State University, but upon looking at buying a ticket online before I got to Lake Charles on Saturday, I noticed that they were playing at Barbe High School.
I know very little about Louisiana high school baseball, but a high school baseball fan knows that Barbe is a state and national power.
Barbe - pronounced like the female name "Barb" - has won 12 state championships and four national crowns, presumably from USA Today.
Although the on-field game announcer made a reference during the evening to "Buccaneer Stadium", I saw nothing online that it was anything other than "Barbe High School Baseball Field".
And while they have 58 sponsors on or above the outfield wall and a slew outside on the wall supporting the third base side, nobody has given enough coin from a sinken treasure in the Gulf of Mexico to name the facility!
You can Google Barbe's baseball facility as it shows that they've done some more improvement to support one of the top teams in the country, but the basic stadium is really nice for a high school field.
Every seat is a chairback.
As so many high school fields these days, the playing surface is field turf, but it has one of the largest foul territory areas that I've seen since a few of the older major league ballparks.
You can buy a general admission ticket online for $10, and it'll be the same $11.02 with the sales tax that you'll pay by card if you just walk up to the gate.
While I'm not quite certain how many the facility actually seats, on this Saturday night, as the Gumbeaux Gators were playing host to the Victoria Generals, I would estimate that it was 35-40% full.
The ballgame itself was great. I stayed the entire time. Two hours and 43 minutes, but without a lot of pitching changes, as Victoria came from behind to win, 5-3, over Lake Charles.
The biggest bit of excitement came late in the game, either in the eighth or ninth inning, when the umpire called a Gumbeaux Gator out for batter interference as the catcher tried to make the throw on a runner trying to steal second.
Two coaches for Lake Charles were ejected for arguing the calls. The second one, a big man, had to be restrained by the third base coach and even law enforcement came on to the field. I didn't see if the batter stepped out of the box, but that is what should have triggered that call. It looked as if the player - as I was watching the throw by the catcher falls short - was trying to plead his case that he remained in before both coaches exploded.
Summer collegiate baseball, of course, can be hit or miss sometimes, but this turned out to be a pretty good game.
Friends and families for the Victoria players made the trip - perhaps about two dozen, but they were clearly and positively vocal.
Speaking of vocal, the one saving grace for me is that the back row of the third base seating section - and probably as well as the first base side - is actually behind the main speakers behind home plate.
The main public address announcer was muted a good bit, but the on-field announcer was a screamer - who I first heard from across the street 30 minutes before the game from the track in the school football stadium.
Actually, it wasn't too over the top.
And his name is Bryce, as there were fans in the stands off to my left who called him by name loudly enough that he heard it near the first base coaching box as he was exiting the field between innings.
However, the Gumbeaux Gators have Gator Girls. What are they you might ask? Four cheerleaders.
They did a dance routine before the start of the game and came out in mid-inning to lead the crowd in some cheers.
A couple of other notes from the evening:
1.) Field and the grandstands are very well lit, with an assist from the tennis courts out beyond the left-field fence; however, there are lights at the back of the grandstands.
2.) Plenty of up-close and free parking.
3.) No distance signs on the fence.
4.) And you have to get a wristband to go outside of the gate as that is where the restrooms are.
I think, given the success of LSU and Barbe High School in that area and the facility they're using, this organization has the opportunity to be a mainstay of the Texas Collegiate League for a long time to come.
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