American Legion State Tourney headed to Abbeville

Bringing the American Legion State Tournament to Abbeville for the first time is a big deal for the community, and the community has already responded positively to the news, according to Tommy Picard, president of Quality Sports Authority.
Eleven teams from around Louisiana will converge on Abbeville from July 15-19 for the tournament, which will be played at Theriot Field and Sellers Field.
“It’ll be a good thing for Abbeville,” said Picard. “We’ve got a lot of support in the community.”
QSA has a contract with the city to run its recreation program and a separate contract to oversee the city parks. Roy Theriot Field and Ralph Sellers Field are located at A.A. Comeaux Park in Abbeville.
“They were looking for a place, and we put up (a bid) for it,” Picard said of the process.
American Legion baseball state officials visited the city and liked what they saw, he said. The choice came down to New Orleans or Abbeville, he said.
“It is (exciting),” said Trey DeRouen, coach of the Gulf Coast Bank 29ers from American Legion Post 29 in Abbeville, which is the host team for the tournament. “It’s awesome also to bring baseball back to Abbeville. When I was growing up, there were tournaments, and there were games. Our park was flourishing back then. I don’t know what happened. Everything just kind of went away. It’s nice to bring things back to Abbeville, get the community involved, and get the kids excited to be part of this team.”
Picard said he’s already arranged for breakfast to be prepared for all the teams each day of the tournament. Among groups and companies that have offered help in one form or another are the Abbeville Rotary Club and Champagne’s.
“We’ve already gotten a good response from different organizations,” Picard said.
Abbeville’s success at running similar tournaments for youth baseball and softball helps, he said. For example, the city has hosted nine Babe Ruth World Series in various age groups, dating as far back as 1974.
The city is hosting sectional Pony League tournaments featuring 14 teams in age 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12 divisions, with super regionals for age 15 set next week in Abbeville.
Joining the 29ers at the state tournament are the Benton Tigers, Crowley Millers, Gauthier Amedee of Gonzales, the Gibbs Construction Cardinals of Laplace and the St. Landry Bank Indians of Opelousas. Three teams from Lafayette will take part, the DTSMA Bulldogs, Lafayette Braves and Lafayette Drillers, along with two teams from New Orleans, Retif Oil and the St. Augustine Purple Knights.
DeRouen, 32, is in his first year coaching the 29ers. He played junior and senior Legion baseball in Abbeville for four years. The former Vermilion Catholic player played college baseball for three years in Kansas and one in Delaware, graduating with a degree in environmental issues. He said that playing American Legion baseball helped him secure college baseball opportunities.
DeRouen’s grandfather, Raywood Frederick, helped rebuild the Abbeville team as the American Legion representative for Post 29, and when DeRouen was approached to coach the team, he was eager to do his part in building the team again after two years without a squad because of COVID-19.
“My grandpa had passed away, and Mr. Dudley (Broussard) asked me if I would want to coach this year,” DeRouen said. “I felt like it was my turn to give back.”
DeRouen works full-time as a health safety and environmental specialist at Acadian Contractors. This spring, he was asked by a friend to be an assistant coach/hitting coach at Westminster Christian in Lafayette, which is starting its baseball program. He went seamlessly into Legion ball after the prep season, he said.
“It was a challenge, but there have been a lot of supportive people in the process that have helped me get my feet on the ground,” DeRouen said.
DeRouen said he grew up spending a lot of time at his grandparents’ house and helped with all the events they did, including Legion baseball.
“I have a deep understanding of what American Legion was about and what they do, and I respected them,” he said. “I played for them and felt it was my turn to revamp it, kind of like what he did 20 years ago. It was dying at that time, and he went in, started making the team, revamped the program, and it lasted until COVID hit. Mr. Dudley took it over and kept it going all these years.”
This week, Gulf Coast Bank plays two more home games at Theriot Field to wrap up the regular season against the St. Landry Indians at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the Lafayette Braves at 7 p.m. Thursday (June 30).