RSS Feed

December 5, 1938 ~ July 7, 2023

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 11, 2023  at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Jimmie Dale Choate, 84, who passed away Friday, July 7, 2023 at Pelican Pointe Healthcare and Rehabilitation.
He will be laid to rest at Bancker Cemetery with Deacon William Vincent officiating the services. Honored to serve as pallbearers will be Corey M. Choate, Brady E. Choate, Marlon W. Choate, Rudy Stelly, Brannon Trahan and Corey M. Choate, Jr.     
Jimmie is survived by his three sons, Corey M. Choate, Brady E. Choate (Jennifer) and Marlon W. Choate (Pamela); six grandchildren; and numerous great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife of fifty-six years, Maudrey Mae Stelly Choate; father, Hiram Choate; mother, Mary Baudoin; daughter, Lisa Choate; two sisters, Faye Dore and Sharon Bernard; and half-brother, Gary Choate.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 from 9 a.m. until   time of services. A rosary will be prayed at 10:30 a.m.  
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.  

The Rotary Club of Abbeville is partnering with American Legion Post 29 to offer free admission on opening day of the American Legion State Championship Baseball Tournament on Saturday to any youth recreational league players who are wearing their youth league jersey and accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The parent or guardian will pay the $10 admission fee for themselves. To avail themselves of the free admission offer, it is essential for youth attendees to be dressed in their team jerseys and accompanied by a parent or guardian, according to Brady Broussard Jr., President of the Rotary Club of Abbeville. The promotion applies exclusively to the opening day, Saturday, July 8.
“We believe that by encouraging young baseball enthusiasts to attend the tournament, we can foster a love for the sport and inspire future athletes,” Broussard said. “This promotion not only supports the local recreational leagues but also gives families an opportunity to enjoy a thrilling day of baseball together.”
Broussard said the Rotary Club of Abbeville is proud to provide crucial support for the highly anticipated tournament.
Glenn Suire, chairman of the American Legion State Championship Baseball Tournament Committee, thanked the Rotary Club for its support.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Rotary Club of Abbeville and American Legion Post 29 for their unwavering support,” Suire said. “Their dedication to promoting youth baseball in our community is commendable, and we are confident that this collaboration will make the tournament an even greater success.”
Eight teams of players aged 14-19 from around Louisiana will vie for the state championship, including the host Gulf Coast Bank 29ers, who are affiliated with American Legion Post 29 in Abbeville. Games are scheduled from Saturday through July 12 at Roy Theriot Field in the A.A. Comeaux Park athletic complex.
Joining the 29ers in the tournament are the Crowley Millers, the Lafayette Drillers, the St. Landry Bank Indians, the Bossier Phillies, the Lafayette Braves, New Orleans Retif Oil and the defending state champion, Gauthier Amedee of Gonzales.
Games start at 10 a.m. Saturday with each succeeding game scheduled for three hours later (1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m.) that day. The 29ers face Gauthier Amedee in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
Second-year head coach Trey DeRouen said Gulf Coast Bank is peaking at the right time. The team is comprised of 17 players, with about half of them from Vermilion Parish schools North Vermilion, Gueydan, Kaplan and Vermilion Catholic, about half from New Iberia Senior High and Loreauville High in Iberia Parish, and a couple of players from St. Thomas More and Acadiana high schools.
Coming from so many high schools, and with different lineups most nights because some players weren’t available as they played for Metro League or travel teams left the squad having to learn to play as a team for much of the season, DeRouen said.
While he won’t have a full lineup available for the first couple of days of the tournament due to previously-scheduled vacations and travel team tournaments, if the 29ers get through the first two days, DeRouen said he will have a full roster the rest of the way.
That is promising since the team started learning to win consistently throughout the last week or two of the season. Prior to that, the team was forced to overcome one big inning in many games where a mistake or two let their opponent jump out to a big lead.
If the 29ers play the way they did late in the year, they can challenge for the title in the double-elimination tournament, DeRouen said.
“This is a very talented team,” DeRouen said. “They can compete with anybody. They can beat anybody.”
Nearly half of the roster can pitch if called upon in addition to playing defensive positions.
Team members include Mason Meyers, Dylan Navarre, Ridge Morvant, Carson Aucoin, Ryan Guillotte, Ross Dartez, Luke Harrington, Eli Finley, Jordyn Mallery, ALexander Marceaux, Evan Migues, Braeden Broussard, Isac Russell, Kanyon Griffin, Darron Degeyter, Zachery Guidry and Micah Marceaux.
Meyers, Navarre, Harrington, Finley, Marceaux, Migues, Russell and Guidry are listed as pitchers.
DeRouen said his team includes a bunch of guys who love playing the game, and don’t worry about who they’re squaring off against, regardless of the circumstances.
“They’re not scared,” he said. “They tough it out. If they’re tired, they’re like, ‘hey, we’ve got to play. We’ve got to win. We’ve got to compete.’
“That’s what’s good about these guys. They have a little grit to them. They want to be there. They want to play. When they’re on the ballfield, they’re competitive. That’s what’s nice to have, even with nine players.”
DeRouen said he is thrilled to see Legion baseball’s resurgence only a couple of years after COVID shut down the season, and is happy to see the state tournament in Abbeville.
“It’s really nice and refreshing to see baseball coming back to this area, and American Legion (baseball) flourishing like it did in the past,” he said. “Not only that, but to host the state tournament, the whole city of Abbeville, the whole parish, really backed it up and really raised money to put on a first-class event. It’s great to see that, no matter what happens.”

EUNICE, La. – LSU Eunice Baseball Head Coach Jeff Willis has been announced as a member of the 2024 class of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame, the organization released on Wednesday. Willis will be honored at the ABCA Hall of Fame Banquet on January 5 in Dallas, Texas during the 80th ABCA Convention.
The longtime LSUE head coach is part of a star-studded 10-member class including legendary head coaches Jim Morris (Miami (FL)) and Jim Wells (Alabama) as well as current University of Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor as well as Georgia Tech’s skipper Danny Hall. Cal Bailey (West Virginia State), Pat McQuaid (Nova HS (FL)), Tim Pettorini (The College of Wooster), John Vodenlich (Wisconsin-Whitewater) and Wayne Wleton (Chelsea HS (MI)). The ABCA Hall of Fame was founded in 1966 and has more than 300 inductees into the exclusive group.
This is the second Hall of Fame that Willis will be recently inducted into. The Bengals’ head coach was enshrined into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this past May in Grand Junction, Colorado.
“To say this is an honor is an understatement,” LSU Eunice Baseball Head Coach Jeff Willis. “To again be recognized by your profession is humbling, but it is a testament to the hard work and dedication our entire institution has put in to make LSU Eunice Baseball successful on the field and in the classroom.”
“This is the definition of a team award,” Willis added.
At the age of 24 years old, Willis took over LSU Eunice and has since turned it into one of the preeminent junior college baseball programs in the nation. The Bengals have won seven NJCAA Division II National Championships under his watch – the third most for a head coach in all of college baseball all-time across all divisions.
LSUE has gone 995-218 (.820) in the 21 seasons under Jeff Willis, which is the second highest winning percentage in the history of college baseball over all division by a coach, active or retired.
The Bengals have made ten NJCAA World Series appearances, captured 11 Regional Championships and won ten District Championships. The seven NJCAA National Championships are also tied for the most in the sport in NJCAA history from one school.
The JUCO Baseball Blog (The JBB) named LSU Eunice the "Team of the Decade" for 2010-2019, encompassing all junior college programs.
After guiding his Bengals to their sixth National Championship in 2018, Willis was awarded the Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year award by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The honor, given to the nation's top coach regardless of association or classification, has also been awarded to LSU's Paul Mainieri and Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan.
Willis becomes the first junior college head coach in Louisiana to be named to the ABCA Hall of Fame and just the eighth head coach among all affiliations from the Bayou State. He joins Ron Maestri (New Orleans, 1991), Skip Bertman (LSU, 2003), Wilbert Ellis (Grambling State, 2007), Paul Mainieri (LSU, 2014), Rick Jones (Tulane, 2017), Roger Cador (Southern, 2021) and Tony Robichaux (Louisiana, 2021).
He will also become just the 24th person in junior college baseball to join this illustrious collection.

The town of Maurice got a pleasant surprise late last month.
The third annual Mendoza fundraiser was held at Don Mendoza Ford in Maurice. The fundraiser was to raise money for volunteer fire departments in Vermilion Parish and for the Maurice Police Department.
The all-day event featured music, a top-of-the-line fireworks display, and a jambalaya cook-off.
The Lance Broussard Cooking Team won the crowd favorite, as well as, overall first place in the cook-off.
The lead chef was Jacques Campbell of Kaplan.
The Guy Nerren Cooking Team took home second, with Rickey Romero as the lead chef.
After the cook-off winners were announced, Don Mendoza, the owner of Mendoza Ford, made a surprise announcement.
Mendoza surprised Nerren by announcing that Mendoza Ford was donating a 2020 Ford 150 truck to the town of Maurice’s Police Department.
Nerren was unaware the department was getting a truck.
“I had no clue,” said Nerren after he sat in the truck. “We met a couple of months ago, and Don asked me to list what the police department needed. I told him I had no clue what to put on the list. I told him I needed a cargo trailer to haul things around. He told me to submit that idea.
“I thought I was getting a cargo trailer. But this truck is outstanding. This is amazing.”
Look for Nerren to receive the new truck, and another officer will inherit the 2017 SUV that Nerren drove.
Don Mendoza, who lives in Lafayette Parish, near his business, explained why he enjoys helping Vermilion Parish.
“I do it to give back to the community,” said Mendoza.
“Hopefully, it would inspire other businesses to follow suit. This gives our first responders support. We want to support the community.”
This was the third annual, and Mendoza said it looked like the largest turnout.
“Everyone is so nice. The competition is awesome,” he added. “This is a great experience.”