Leesville, La. - In what can be described as another stellar year for Vernon Parish in softball, it was a mixture of veterans and youthful exuberance on the all-parish squad selected by the sports department of the Leesville Daily Leader. Of the 25 players named first-team all-Vernon Parish, nine were seniors, four were juniors, two were sophomores, five were freshmen, four were in the eighth grade and one in the seventh grade. Regardless of age, Vernon Parish teams proved to be solid, as two teams reached the state finals, with three others making it to the second round of the playoffs. The all-parish pitching staff was very young in 2009, with Pitkin freshman Ali Merchant being the oldest on the squad. The freshman, who had a district record of 6-1 with two saves, guided Pitkin to the second round of the playoffs, where the Lady Tigers fell to eventual state champion Oak Hill. The remaining members of the all-parish pitching staff were eighth graders — the Simpson duo of Marci West and Mackenzie Kelly and Faith Training's Emily Reese. West and Kelly were a combined 8-1 in league play, combining for 90 strikeouts in nine games pitched. They were also solid with their bats, with West sporting a .419 average and Kelly had a mark of .366. Reese led the Lady Patriots to the Louisiana Christian School Athletic Association finals, sporting a season record of 6-5, with three no-hitters to her credit. Three catchers, all seniors, were chosen to the all-parish team. Rosepine's Stephanie West, Leesville's Brittany Funderburk and Pitkin's Kaleigh Kennedy were key contributors in the success of their respective teams. West batted .327 on the season with two homers and 29 RBIs in support of junior pitcher Christina Hamilton, the Player of the Year on the all-Vernon Parish team. West was a first-team all-district selection in 4-2A as she upped her batting average in league play to over .400. Funderburk batted .346 as she was named first-team all-district in 3-4A. She was the second-leading home run hitter in the parish behind Hamilton, finishing with eight. Kennedy, who batted just above .200 in District 5-B play as a junior, improved that average to .500 in her senior campaign, being named first-team all-district at her spot. She was among the team leaders in batting average and RBIs for the Lady Tigers. The all-parish infield features two seniors in Leesville third baseman April Magee and Pitkin first baseman Brittany Roberts, along with Rosepine freshman Emerald DesJardins at shortstop and Hornbeck freshman Caitlyn Gentry at second base. Magee batted .296 for the Lady Cats in league play, while Roberts carried an average of .292 with 13 RBIs. DesJardins batted .343 for the Lady Eagles, while Gentry had a mark of .357 for the Lady Hornets. The Rosepine duo of Hannah Welborn and Roslyn Davis, along with Pitkin's Savannah Cooley, make up the all-senior all-parish outfield. Cooley, who also pitched for the Lady Tigers, was a valuable defensive presence in the outfield. Although she batted .208 in district play, Cooley came up with many outstanding catches in center, along with picking up three wins in the circle. Welborn, who batted fifth in the lineup for the Lady Eagles, sported a .375 average on the season, driving in 19 runs, while scoring 22 times. She also had a perfect fielding percentage on the season, making no errors. Davis, in just her second year batting in the lineup, accounted for a .352 batting average as she was a slapper in the seventh spot in the order for Rosepine. She drove in 17 runs and scored 17 times as she collected 25 hits on the year. Six utility players were named to the all-parish team, including Anacoco junior Heather Rabalais, Evans' junior Destiny Egan, Hicks' junior Amber Sumler, Pickering sophomore Katherine Brinkley, Simpson freshman Taylor Ellzey and Hornbeck eighth-grader Andrea Garrett. Rabalais, an all-district first-team pick in 5-B, was the ace of the Anacoco pitching staff in 2009, while Egan, a shortstop for the Lady Eagles, had a batting average of over .400 with a couple of homers this year. Sumler was a first-team all-district outfielder in 5-B with a .387 average, while Brinkley was a second-team all-district pick at utility in 4-2A. Ellzey, an all-district selection in 5-B at utility, lined up at catcher for Simpson and had a batting average of .375 with two homers and 11 RBIs in league play, while Garrett, another all-district pick in 5-B at utility, batted .357 on the season and also pitched for the Lady Hornets. Rounding out the team as special award winners were Hamilton (Player of the Year), Leesville senior shortstop Maile Goodwin (Defensive Player of the Year), Simpson sophomore outfielder Stephanie Averitt (Offensive Player of the Year), Leesville freshman pitcher McKenna Goodwin (Pitcher of the Year) and Pitkin seventh-grade shortstop Amber McCallon (Newcomer of the Year). Honorable mention selections to the team were Faith Training junior Sara Reese, Pickering senior Amanda Taylor, Hicks' seventh-grader Tristan Harvey, Evans' pitcher Kimberly Bonner, Leesville freshman Haley Magee, the Pitkin quartet of Jalynn Clark, Magan Bailey, Ashton Merchant and Bailey Durbin, the Simpson sextet of Alexis Thompson, Katelyn Martin, LeAnn Bennett, Brittany Counts, Caitlin Chelette and Aryel Woodham, the Hornbeck duo of Nikki Manes and Tori Prell and the Rosepine quartet of Sara White, Linzay Leger, Shelby Calcote and Desiree Whitaker.