Acadian Ballpark 1

Acadian Ballpark will once again play host to a weekend baseball tournament, this time featuring six

teams in the American Legion league. Called the Evangeline League Classic, the tournament will span Friday through Sunday and feature high school athletes competing against one another and the semi-professional New Iberia Pelicans.

Drake Mackenzie, owner of the Pelicans, said that the tournament started as a way to fill his team’s schedule, but he quickly realized that it could be an opportunity to begin the process of improving the facilities at Acadian Ballpark.

“When we were trying to fill out our schedule for this year we got together with a few of the American Legion teams in the area and said that we wanted to do something to get the park back on its feet,” Mackenzie said. “We thought that this would be a way to start getting the park back to where it needs to be and to introduce the Pelicans to a larger group of baseball fans.”

For Mackenzie, the question of what to name the tournament had an obvious answer.

“We named it the Evangeline League Classic because all of these teams are former Evangeline League teams from back in the day, so it has a bit of a nostalgia factor as well.”

Speaking on the need to update Acadian Ballpark, Mackenzie explained that many of the former Evangeline League parks have either been closed or repurposed, leaving New Iberia’s premier park trailing.

“Acadian Ballpark is kind of the last of the old parks that hasn’t been updated or changed yet,” he said. “Crowley got their field (Miller Stadium) redone, and the rest of them are either turned into college fields or gone. Acadian Ballpark has kind of fallen by the wayside, so to get everyone here is huge for the city and for us to get our name out there.”

As for the tournament, Mackenzie said that it is an opportunity to show off local high school athletes as well as expose the area players to other options for continuing their careers after high school.

“It’s six teams full of the best high school players in the area,” he said. “Not only do they see what our team has to offer and what type of talent that we bring in, but they also get to meet me and my staff. It gives kids a perfect opportunity to continue to play after high school or college.”

In addition to playing against a top adult team, athletes participating in the tournament will get an opportunity to play in front of college scouts.

“We have heard of a couple of colleges that will be out, specifically Louisiana Christian who sent us a message recently,” Mackenzie said. “We know that we had a few scouts at the park during the last tournament, so I assume we’ll have a few others that come by.”

The full tournament schedule is as follows:

Friday, June 10th

5:30 p.m. Lafayette Braves vs Abbeville 23’s

8:00 p.m. Opelousas Indians vs Crowley Millers

Saturday, June 11th

1:30 p.m. New Iberia Pelicans vs Lafayette Drillers

4:00 p.m. Lafayette Braves vs Opelousas Indians

6:30 p.m. New Iberia Pelicans vs Crowley Millers

9:00 p.m. Lafayette Drillers vs Abbeville 23’s

Sunday June 12th

10:00 a.m. Opelousas Indians vs Lafeyette Drillers

12:30 p.m. New Iberia Pelicans vs Abbeville 23’s

3:00 p.m. Crowley Millers vs Lafayette Braves.

Bronze Medal Game

5:30 p.m. 3 seed vs 4 seed

Gold Medal Game

8:00 p.m. 1 seed vs 2 Seed