By George Mahl-Sports Editor

LAKE CHARLES – Near the end of the softball season, I figured Riverside Academy, St. Charles Catholic and Lutcher had the best chance of making it to the state softball tournament in Sulphur. It turns out, I was right.

That not only meant that a road trip would be required, but also hotel accommodations would be needed. That was not an easy task. I called several hotels in Southwest Louisiana, only to not have any luck whatsoever.

Time was growing short for myself and ace photographer Tommy Williams. Hotels in Lake Charles were booked, as were hotels in Sulphur and Vinton. Riverside had to end up staying in Jennings (about 40 miles East of Sulphur). When all else fails, call Harold Keller.

Mr. Keller was gracious enough to find us a hotel room. Albeit, a hotel in Texas. So, its Friday morning and Williams and I are on the road heading toward Orange, Texas. In case you don’t know, Orange is right on the other side of the Louisiana/Texas border.

We leave LaPlace early in the morning and we arrive in Orange at about 11:30am. Surprisingly, it only took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there. Maybe Tommy’s driving had something to do with it. Maybe not. We are a little unsure of ourselves as we approach the border.

The reason is because we are driving on Interstate 10 and see a sign saying I-10 West (Beaumont). At that point, we think we have missed the exit because Beaumont is the next city after Orange.

Luckily, we did not miss the exit because we found the our hotel The only bad thing was the hotel was 27 miles West of where the games were being held. So, it is now 11:45 a.m. and we decide to head to the park.

We did not, however, pay for the hotel room. All we did was tell the front desk clerk to hold our confirmation number until the games ended. Unfortuantly for the River Parishes, none of the teams made it to the next round, which also meant parents, coaches, players and fans would be leaving to go home right after the game.

It also meant several hotel rooms would be vacant.

Thankfully, through the magic of a cell phone, we were able to make a reservation in Lake Charles. The thing I regret is the clerk holding on to our room in Orange not knowing that we were not coming back.

Oh well, life goes on.