LAPLACE – Furthering the players’ and teams’ experience in ways hours at practice simply can’t match, six teams baseball teams and three softball teams from across the River Parishes have begun competing in American Legion and Metro tournaments this summer.

Opening the last week of May and the first full week of June, the teams will play round-robin schedules, composed of shortened games. In American Legion baseball, the teams will play a 14-game, single round schedule.

The top two teams will compete in the state regional tournament. The third ranked team will match up against the sixth seeded team and the fourth place teams will play the fifth ranked team in best-of-three series. The two winners of the series will also advance to the state regional tournament.

The Metro softball teams will compete for a similar fate through a similar schedule, beginning June 7. The softball games are scheduled for one hour and 10 minutes each, so six games can be played each day for four days. Teams from Lutcher High School, St. Charles Catholic High School and Riverside Academy High School will battle amongst themselves, and against rival E.D. White.

The six-game days will be played at each school, beginning with Riverside Academy on June 7, E.D. White on June 14, Lutcher on June 21 and St. Charles Catholic on June 28.

The six local teams battling through the American Legion schedule include St. Charles Catholic High School, sponsored by Cretin homes and Reserve Post 159; Destrehan High School, by East St. Charles Post 366/195; Lutcher High School, by Golden Grove Truck Stop and Reserve Post 159; East St. John High School, by Integrity Consulting and Reserve Post 159; Hahnville High School, by Otto Candies and St. Charles Post 131, and Riverside Academy High School, will be sponsored by Reserve Post 159.