The baseball and softball seasons are approaching as area teams participate in jamborees this week.
The 2020 Perry Pitre Ford baseball jamboree will be held at both Bobcat Field and Blue Jay Field.
The junior varsity jamboree will be held Friday at both fields.
At 3 p.m., Mamou will take on Opelousas Catholic at EHS.
Iota will take on Sacred Heart of Ville Platte at 4:30 p.m., while the Bobcats will face Ascension Episcopal at 6 p.m.
At Blue Jay Field at North Park, Teurlings Catholic will face Notre Dame at 4 p.m. and again at 5:30 p.m. with freshmen and junior varsity games.
St. Edmund will take on Pine Prairie at 7 p.m.
The varsity jamboree will be held on Saturday at both fields.
At EHS, Mamou and Opelousas Catholic square off at 10 a.m.
Opelousas Catholic and Ascension Episcopal follow at 11:30 a.m.
The Bobcats will face Mamou at 1 p.m. and then conclude the jamboree against Ascension Episcopal at 2:30 p.m.
At St Ed’s, Pine Prairie will take on Sacred Heart of Ville Platte at 10 a.m.
Sacred Heart will then face Iota at 11:30 a.m.
St. Ed’s will face Pine Prairie at 1 p.m. and conclude the jamboree against Iota at 2:30 p.m.
“We have a lot of guys coming back from last year,” St. Ed’s head coach Barry Manuel said. “We also have young guys who will get some opportunties to prove they can play.
“We are excited to be back into playing baseball.”
Manuel said they are still moving guys around to make the line-up and the jamboree will help determine who the starters are.
“We have a good nucleus of experienced players who should help lead the way,” Manuel said.
The Blue Jays start the regular season at 6 p.m. Monday at home against Ascension Episcopal.
For Scott Phillips, the jamboree always means the season is beginning.
“We have been limited by the weather,” Phillips said. “We are ready to see what we have on field.
“We have a lot of new faces in the line-up,” he said. “We want to see consistency and just play the game.”
Phillips said pitching will be one of the Bobcats’s strong points with Grant Fontenot, Jahiem Mitchell, Price Myers and Braden Rider.
“We will have experience pitching and a solid infield,” the coach said. “We are still looking to see how our outfielders can perform.
“We are ready for the season to begin,” Phillips said. “We are excited to see what we have.”
Eunice opens the season at home at 6 p.m. Monday against Jennings.
The softball jamboree begins today at Beau Chene’s Lady Gator Field.
Opelousas High will take on Northwest at 5 p.m., followed by Northside Christian versus Eunice High at 6 p.m.
Beau Chene will take on Port Barre at 7 p.m.
The Eunice Lady Bobcats will conclude Friday’s action at 8 p.m. against OHS.
Friday’s games begin at 5 p.m. when the Beau Chene junior varsity will face the Northside Christian junior varsity.
Port Barre will take on Northwest at 6 p.m.
St. Edmund will face Northside Christian at 7 p.m. and then conclude the jamboree against the host Lady Gators at 8 p.m.