St. Mary Pony All-Star coaches talk about seasons

St. Mary Pony 13- and 14-year-old All-Stars’ coaches commented on their seasons earlier this week.
Pony 13s coach Tony Beaubouef, whose team finished 1-2 at the Pony 13 South Zone Elite Tournament in Deer Park, Texas, this past weekend, said that his team did well.
St. Mary defeated Friendswood, Texas, 3-2 in extra innings July 18 before falling in another game July 18 to Laredo, 5-3.
Friendswood, Texas, defeated St. Mary in extra innings Saturday, 5-4.
“We played some very good competition, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the effort from our kids, really and truly,” he said.
While St. Mary originally was scheduled to start tournament play Thursday night, its game was rained out, and its tournament action didn’t begin until noon Friday.
Beaubouef said playing back-to-back games Friday was a “huge challenge.”
While St. Mary finished the tournament with a losing record, they were competitive throughout the event.
“Our kids just really fought and competed,” Beaubouef said. “A bounce here, a bounce there, and we were still playing.”
Beaubouef said his squad played a combined 21 innings Friday and Saturday and “didn’t beat themselves” in ballgames.
“The one thing I asked our kids to do is make the other teams earn it, and when you play good ball clubs, one play here, there, a hit here, can turn the game,” he said.
Beaubouef said that Laredo finished as the Elite Tournament runner-up, while St. Landry, who topped St. Mary in Super Region play and advanced to the traditional south zone bracket, finished third in the traditional bracket.
Beaubouef thanked assistant coaches Ronnie Ratcliff and John B. Hover as well as the parents of his team members for their support this season.
In 14-year-old action, St. Mary’s Pony squad will be advancing to the South Zone Tournament Elite Bracket in Burleson, Texas, after a runner-up finish at the Pony 14 & Under Super Region Tournament last weekend.
The Pony 14s run-ruled every team they played in last weekend’s tournament except the Crowley Nationals, who defeated St. Mary in its second-round contest 16-0 in five innings.
St. Mary bounced back from the Crowley loss with run-rule wins against Arnaudville (12-2 in five innings), Jennings (11-1 in five innings) and Iowa (14-3 in five innings) before falling to Crowley again, 10-0 in six innings in the tournament finals.
“Crowley’s a pretty stout team,” St. Mary coach Patrick Wiley said. “They’re fundamentally sound offensively and defensively, and that’s typical baseball. You make a mistake and good teams make you pay for it and that’s what they did to us in the first game.”
In general, Wiley said his team played good baseball, noting they knew what they were facing when they played Crowley.
He said despite the rough ending, in which St. Mary was no hit and struck out 13 times in the finals, his squad is entering the next round of play with some momentum after run-ruling every other opponent in the Super Region Tournament.
“As long as we keep swinging the bats, we’ll be fine,” Wiley said.
While he said his players understand the competition will be tougher in Texas, he said, “It’s nothing we haven’t been through before.”
Look for a preview next Wednesday on the Pony 14s next round of action in Texas.