Hurricane doesn't destroy dreams

By Stan Hudy

CLIFTON PARK – The Southwest Regional Champion Jefferson Parish from Metairie, Louisiana is looking for a repeat at this year’s 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series in Clifton Park, but only on the diamond.

Last year, as a 14-year-old squad, Jefferson Parish, captured the 14-year-old World Series in Quincy, Massachusetts. Then, the next day, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and the champions were stranded.

“We were in Dallas for almost a month,” Jefferson Parish outfielder Ian Roberson said. “We ate at the mall every day.”

The team spent their time watching television, looking for any information from newspapers, television coverage that would include anything about their homes, neighborhoods and towns.

When they were finally able to return in mid-September, things were bleak.
“Everything was gutted in my house,” Roberson said. “The carpets were torn up, the second floor was OK, the first floor was gone.”

Few things survived the hurricane and its storm surge.

“All my clothes were ruined,” Harold Toscano said. “We had mold through our whole house. Just my computer was OK.”

The hurricanes not only destroyed their homes, but also their beloved baseball diamonds.

“All the light poles were down, the scoreboard was shattered,” Jordan Rittiner said.
A year after the event, the baseball fields in Metairie have made big strides.
“The area lost all it’s prep (high school) fields,” Jefferson Parish coach Bill Babin said. “We put all of our resources in our parish to get the fields ready in March. We played day games for a while before the lights went in.”

For the players and their parents, the reconstruction continues.

“We just got insulation in the walls a week before I came here,” Toscano said. 
“We have cabinets in boxes,” Roberson said. “When we try to put up walls, it leaks and we have to fix it.”

After capturing the 14-year-old title in Quincy, some spirits weren’t diminished as Babish recalls the conversation with manager Tommy Moran after the victory.
“We won the week before in Abbeville,” Babin said. “I was back home moving all my plants and stuff inside.

“Tommy calls and is so excited. I told him congratulations, but a storm is coming and it looks like a big one,” Babin said. “Tommy (Moran) was so excited he said ‘That baby can go right over my house, we just won a World Series.’”

Babish built his house to withstand hurricanes and stayed in his home through Hurricane Camille.

“My 89-year-old mother came down to stay with us,” Babin said. “Once we knew the winds would be over 175 miles per hour and my sister called to say that we could stay in Baton Rouge, we left.”

Babin returned shortly to check on his home, courtesy of a friend in law enforcement.

“I didn’t have any flooding, I was lucky,” Babin said. “I had some trees down, normal hurricane damage.”

The team gathered in December to finally celebrate their World Series victory among their families and friends. There were laughs along with a lot of Katrina story swapping.

The majority of the team 11 out of 15, returned this spring to fight their way to another title.

“To win this year would be 100 percent different,” Rittiner said. “Everyone kind of forgot that we won the World Series. We want to win it this year and enjoy it.”