Summer Sports

By Garrett Lumpkin 337 Sports


The 2008-2009 school year has officially ended. And for high school and collegiate student athletes, that means it’s time for a break. However, in the sports world, there is no break. There is a common perception that nothing exciting happens in the sports world over the summer. I don’t buy into that notion, and I have five reasons why local sports fans should be excited about the summer:
LSU Baseball
Head coach Paul Mainieri has assembled the best LSU baseball team since 2000 when the Tigers won the last of their five national championships. The Tigers roared through the Southeastern Conference this year winning the SEC regular season title and the SEC tournament championship.

LSU has what it takes to win it all, and that is balance. In the SEC, which is considered the most competitive college baseball conference, the Tigers led the league in pitching and ranked second in both hitting and fielding.

Put it this way… If LSU doesn’t play deep into the College World Series, it will be very disappointing because the expectations are extremely high for this team.
From here on out every LSU baseball game will be nationally televised by ESPN. The College World Series takes place June 13-24 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Louisiana Swashbucklers
The Swashbucklers may be playing in a different league, but they’re producing the same one-sided results that fans have grown accustomed to. After winning two consecutive Intense Football League championships in 2007 and 2008, the team moved over to the Southern Indoor Football League.

It’s been a seamless transition as the Bucs have started the 2009 season 5-1. They are leading the SIFL in scoring offense (55 pts per game), and scoring defense (25 pts per game).
The Swashbucklers will be playing at the Lake Charles Civic Center throughout June and July, and I’m thinking they’ll end the season with a third straight championship.

Golf Tournaments
With the summer comes a plethora of local golf tournaments around Southwest Louisiana.
Graywood is hosting the McNeese Cowboy Club Tournament on June 20.

Mallard Cove has its annual Cameron State Bank Lake Charles Men’s City Golf Championship on June 26-28. Mallard Cove will follow that with the Junior City Championship July 6-7 and the Women’s City Championship July 11-12.

The Sulphur Men’s City Championship will be held at Frasch Park on July 10-12.

Pine Shadows will host the Red, White and Blue Tournament on July 4. Pine Shadows also has its Summer Invitational on August 1-2.

The Lake Charles Country Club will host the US Amateur Qualifier on August 3, the Prien Lake Four Ball on August 7-9, and the Louisiana Golf Association Senior Amateur on August 20-22.
If you are a competitive golfer, then you have plenty of opportunities to strut your stuff this summer.
Youth Baseball
Southwest Louisiana is known for producing top baseball talent, and it all starts in the youth leagues.

On just about any night during June and July you can find a great little league baseball game in the lake area.

Two local Bullet Baseball teams have already qualified for the Elite World Series at Disney World. The Bullet Baseball 9 year olds will be in Orlando, Florida August 2-9, and the Bullet Baseball 10 year olds will be in Orlando July 12-19. The Bullet Baseball 10 year olds finished third at the Elite World Series last year.

There is also the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in August. In 2006 and 2008 the South Lake Charles All-Stars advanced to the Little League World Series. SLC always has a loaded all-star roster, and I’m sure those young guys will make another run at Williamsport later this summer.

Closer to Football Season
My final reason for you to be excited about the summer is this: We are that much closer to football season!

In just two short months, the high school and college kids will be dressed in full pads getting set for another football season.

NFL teams will hit the practice field even earlier as all 32 NFL teams will be in training camp by the final week of July.

It’s highly likely that the McNeese Cowboys and LSU Tigers will each begin their respective seasons ranked in the top 20.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys should each be improved in 2009 after each team missed the playoffs one year ago.