By Paige Gurgainers

A new 10U baseball team comprised of all Lakeside “Little Warriors” – but for travel ball purposes now known as the “Wood Ducks” – is proving to be a great quacking group of athletes. 

Coach of the Wood Ducks, Ricky Thomas and Marcus Harmon, credit their success so far to the Little Warriors program for “getting these boys started.” 

Harmon said, “Ricky and I have been talking about putting together a team of future Lakeside boys for close to a year. We were finally able to do that this spring season. We played in our first tournament last weekend and these boys blew me away.” 

The Wood Ducks went 4 for 4 at the tournament held in Blanchard. On Saturday, March 22, they beat the Haughton Legends, 8 –1, and the Sluggers, 17-2. 

They were the number one seed going into Sunday’s games beating the Legends, 17-4, and the Sluggers, 10-3. 

“Honestly, I didn’t know how we would look,” continued Harmon. “We’ve been putting in work and have more to do, but we played some ball.  Our bats were on fire, scoring 52 points over 4 games. Our defense and pitching weren’t too shabby either and only gave up 10 runs.” 

They showcased aggressive base running on their (un)webbed feet flying into home and securing their first ring. It’s safe to say these boys could play a major role in the success of Lakeside’s future baseball program. 

The Wood Ducks will play again in the inaugural La Prospects Showdown Tournament on April 5 – 6. This will be 2 pool play single elimination tournament at the Blanchard Athletic Club.