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Bringing the American Legion State Tournament to Abbeville for the first time is a big deal for the community, and the community has already responded positively to the news, according to Tommy Picard, president of Quality Sports Authority.
Eleven teams from around Louisiana will converge on Abbeville from July 15-19 for the tournament, which will be played at Theriot Field and Sellers Field.
“It’ll be a good thing for Abbeville,” said Picard. “We’ve got a lot of support in the community.”
QSA has a contract with the city to run its recreation program and a separate contract to oversee the city parks. Roy Theriot Field and Ralph Sellers Field are located at A.A. Comeaux Park in Abbeville.
“They were looking for a place, and we put up (a bid) for it,” Picard said of the process.
American Legion baseball state officials visited the city and liked what they saw, he said. The choice came down to New Orleans or Abbeville, he said.
“It is (exciting),” said Trey DeRouen, coach of the Gulf Coast Bank 29ers from American Legion Post 29 in Abbeville, which is the host team for the tournament. “It’s awesome also to bring baseball back to Abbeville. When I was growing up, there were tournaments, and there were games. Our park was flourishing back then. I don’t know what happened. Everything just kind of went away. It’s nice to bring things back to Abbeville, get the community involved, and get the kids excited to be part of this team.”
Picard said he’s already arranged for breakfast to be prepared for all the teams each day of the tournament. Among groups and companies that have offered help in one form or another are the Abbeville Rotary Club and Champagne’s.
“We’ve already gotten a good response from different organizations,” Picard said.
Abbeville’s success at running similar tournaments for youth baseball and softball helps, he said. For example, the city has hosted nine Babe Ruth World Series in various age groups, dating as far back as 1974.
The city is hosting sectional Pony League tournaments featuring 14 teams in age 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12 divisions, with super regionals for age 15 set next week in Abbeville.
Joining the 29ers at the state tournament are the Benton Tigers, Crowley Millers, Gauthier Amedee of Gonzales, the Gibbs Construction Cardinals of Laplace and the St. Landry Bank Indians of Opelousas. Three teams from Lafayette will take part, the DTSMA Bulldogs, Lafayette Braves and Lafayette Drillers, along with two teams from New Orleans, Retif Oil and the St. Augustine Purple Knights.
DeRouen, 32, is in his first year coaching the 29ers. He played junior and senior Legion baseball in Abbeville for four years. The former Vermilion Catholic player played college baseball for three years in Kansas and one in Delaware, graduating with a degree in environmental issues. He said that playing American Legion baseball helped him secure college baseball opportunities.
DeRouen’s grandfather, Raywood Frederick, helped rebuild the Abbeville team as the American Legion representative for Post 29, and when DeRouen was approached to coach the team, he was eager to do his part in building the team again after two years without a squad because of COVID-19.
“My grandpa had passed away, and Mr. Dudley (Broussard) asked me if I would want to coach this year,” DeRouen said. “I felt like it was my turn to give back.”
DeRouen works full-time as a health safety and environmental specialist at Acadian Contractors. This spring, he was asked by a friend to be an assistant coach/hitting coach at Westminster Christian in Lafayette, which is starting its baseball program. He went seamlessly into Legion ball after the prep season, he said.
“It was a challenge, but there have been a lot of supportive people in the process that have helped me get my feet on the ground,” DeRouen said.
DeRouen said he grew up spending a lot of time at his grandparents’ house and helped with all the events they did, including Legion baseball.
“I have a deep understanding of what American Legion was about and what they do, and I respected them,” he said. “I played for them and felt it was my turn to revamp it, kind of like what he did 20 years ago. It was dying at that time, and he went in, started making the team, revamped the program, and it lasted until COVID hit. Mr. Dudley took it over and kept it going all these years.”
This week, Gulf Coast Bank plays two more home games at Theriot Field to wrap up the regular season against the St. Landry Indians at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the Lafayette Braves at 7 p.m. Thursday (June 30).

Mark Piazza has spent the past 32 years, half his life, serving the city of Abbeville.
For the past 20 years, that service has come with the title of mayor. Piazza will wrap up an Abbeville record five terms as mayor when his retirement becomes official later this week. Abbeville will swear in a new administration on Thursday.
Piazza provided a farewell speech during his final city council meeting on June 21.
“Since 1990, for the past 32 years, I’ve had the distinct privilege of serving the City of Abbeville and having a seat at this table,” Piazza said.
That table has included many people as well as different seats. Prior to becoming mayor, Piazza represented District A on the council.
“I’ve served alongside five different chiefs of police and 13 different city councilmen,” Piazza said. “I served as Abbeville City Councilman in District A under Mayor Brady Broussard for 12 of those years. Alongside Mayor Brady and the city council, many great things happened.”
Among the things that happed during Piazza’s first 12 years in politics included:
• the Magdalen Square Gazebo was built
• the Abbeville Christmas Light & Christmas Stroll was started
• the Airport Helipad was built
• the Louisiana Military Hall of Fame Museum began
• the Fruit of the Loom Company was brought to Abbeville
“That is along with several baseball World Series, regional and statewide tournaments, just to name a few,” Piazza added.
In ’02, Piazza ran for and won his first election as mayor.
“The new administration got off to an extremely difficult start by being annihilated by Hurricane Lili after being in office for only three months,” Piazza said.
While not ideal, it helped prepare Piazza for the forces nature would bring during the ensuing two decades.
“Since (Lili), we’ve been involved in one way or another in 17 major hurricanes, 22 tropical storms, and the flood of 2016, the worst in 76 years,” Piazza said.
The past two-plus years brought something else for which a playbook didn’t exist.
“Administrating during a pandemic was a real challenge,” Piazza said of the COVID-19 pandemic that took hold in March of ‘20. “It was real challenge to keep city services going, when everything is shut down. People couldn’t work together and were scared to go outside. People couldn’t be in a vehicle together. Our offices were closed. It was very challenging.
“The past few years, really since ’16, it has been very difficult with a lot of challenging times.”
Like his time of the council, Piazza’s 20 years as mayor have featured plenty of positives.
To name a few on the list:
• the building of a new Police Station and a new Fire Station,
• a State-of-the-Art Airport Terminal, which won Abbeville the LMA State Community Achievement Award for Economic Development
• 3 new city parks
• 2 new electrical substations
• a flood-prevention pond
• 2 museums and a downtown Welcome Center with outdoor public rest rooms
• new sidewalks that are accessible to people with disabilities
• a Skate Park and Splash Pad
• a new Event Center, a Walking Trail, a Fishing Pond and Dog Park, new Tennis Courts
• the elevation of McKinley Scott Park Pavilion
“We have new turf baseball fields as well as a neighborhood community garden,” Piazza said. “Our water and wastewater systems have been improved and upgraded numerous times through millions of dollars in CDBG Grant Funds. Generators have been installed at every public building, including the water plant, sewer plant and numerous sewer lift stations, to go along with these infrastructure improvements.”
In fact, more than $10 million in grants, including many through the Louisiana Community Development Block Grant, have been received by the city during Piazza’s time as mayor.
Electrical rates also have decreased.
“We have lowered the cost of electricity four times,” Piazza said, “through tough negotiations on contracts with different electrical providers. In ’05, our electrical cost to the city was 9.8 cents a kilowatt hour. Today, it is less than 6 cents.”
In all, city finances are in good shape as Piazza prepares to step away.
“The city is probably in better financial shape than it has been in years,” Piazza said. “Some of that has to do with federal funds. At this time, our current cash balance is $7.7 million. In ’02, it was $4 million.”
Sales tax revenues have more than doubled, going from $2.4 million in Piazza’s first year as mayor to $5.98 million last year.
“That does included the half-cent sales tax we passed (in ’19),” Piazza said. “If you take that away, its still around $4 million, almost double.”
Having people visit Abbeville has helped revenues. In the past 20 years, numerous events have formed to help bring countless visitors to the city. That includes the Daylily Festival and Garden Show, the Sicilian Festival, which takes place at the Sam Guarino Blacksmith Shop Museum, Sounds on the Square, the Cake and Ice Cream Festival, the Farmer’s Market and Christmas festivities.
Piazza stressed that all of the accomplishments previously listed are not a result of anything that he did alone.
“It’s an administration,” Piazza said. “I didn’t do it by myself. I had a great council to work with the whole time I was mayor. A lot of these ideas came from them. No matter what it is, it has to come through this office and be budgeted and organized.
“We all worked well together to make all of this happen.”
On Tuesday, the council provided a thank you to Piazza. Councilman Francis Touchet Jr., with whom Piazza has worked during his entire 20 years as mayor, read a proclamation and presented Piazza with a plaque.
“When I came on, Mark and I had some differences about how we felt on different things,” Touchet said. “I will tell you this, we have come to work together over the years. More importantly, I can say I have a friend in Mark.”
Councilwoman and Mayor-elect Roslyn White said she has learned so much working with Piazza.
“You have taught me a lot in my first four years on the council,” White told Piazza. “Thank you for being so supportive of my desire to run. It’s huge shoes to fill, but I plan to work on it.
“Thank you for always being there and guiding us.”
Piazza said he is certain the city is in good hands with the incoming administration.
“I believe it will be a smooth transition,” Piazza said. “We have met several times over the past couple of months. She has asked a lot of questions. We have gone over a lot of issues and she is caught up on all the current projects. She is very familiar with ordinances and the funding process as well as the budget.
“I am confident the transition will be smooth.”
Piazza has spent the past few weeks cleaning out his office to get ready for that official transition. On Wednesday afternoon, as Piazza reflected on his time in the office, some of the few items that remained were certificates recognizing appointments to numerous statewide boards. It is those appointments that are among Piazza’s proudest personal moments. Bobby Jindal originally appointed Piazza to the Governor’s Advisory Board for Coastal Restoration and Protection, a board to which Piazza was re-appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards. Jindal also appointed Piazza to the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL).
“Those are two appointments that I am very, very proud of,” Piazza said.
He has also served on the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority (LEPA) board, at one time serving as chairman. For the past eight years, he held a spot on the Louisianan Municipal Association (LMA), an appointment that had to come from eight different mayors in each of those years.
“That has meant a lot coming from my peers,” Piazza said. “That is something else that I am really proud of.”
In the end, Piazza has been proud to serve Abbeville and its citizens.
“I have had a great 20 years,” Piazza said of being mayor. “Serving the public was an honor. Representing our city in all of my travels has truly been an honor.”

Francis Plaisance will admit that he did not have a complete understanding of the inner workings of local government when he first joined the Abbeville City Council in 2006.
“All I thought you did was flip a switch and the lights came on,” Plaisance said with a laugh.
Next week, he will leave with a much better understanding, and an even greater appreciation.
Plaisance attended his final meeting as councilman at large on Tuesday. He has served in that capacity for four consecutive terms. With Abbeville set to swear in a new administration and council next Thursday, Plaisance took the opportunity to reflect on the past 16 years, 12 of which included serving as mayor pro-tem.
“Serving as Councilman at Large has been a rewarding experience that I will cherish always,” Plaisance said. “At City Hall, there were many challenges that we faced, especially during hurricane season, and we faced them together.”
Teamwork also paved the way for employee raises in ’06 and ’19, Plaisance said, as well as the negotiation of an electrical contract that has helped save citizens money.
“Abbeville’s utility rates are not increasing, as they are in surrounding areas, due to a contract, negotiated by me and Councilman (Brady) Broussard Jr., with our electrical provider,” Plaisance said. “The current rate is based on the cost of natural gas, which has risen recently to as high as $9, but our negotiated rate is “locked in” at $1.37 until May 31, 2024.”
While it is not under the city’s umbrella, Plaisance has used his 25 years with the Louisiana Cattle Festival, including the past 20 as president, to promote Abbeville.
“It has given me the opportunity for promoting tourism for our city,” Plaisance said. “Through the festival, we have been able to host many celebrities and dignitaries throughout the years, focusing on our beautiful city and its unique culture and hospitality.”
Plasiance said he is also proud of his role in the creation of the Cake & Ice Cream Festival as well as the “Bobby Charles” sign that welcomes people to the city on U.S. Hwy. 167.
“As Councilman at Large, my greatest personal achievement,” Plaisance said,
“with the help of Mayor (Mark) Piazza and City Council members, is the 11-year creation of Lafitte Drive-In Park, a beautiful family park with fishing, walking trail, picnic tables, barbecue pits, benches and many more possibilities. The upcoming fishing pier with a gazebo (handicap accessible) is part of a $400,000 grant that I helped to secure. (Main Street Manager)Charlene Beckett also obtained park grants for exercise stations along the trail, and, most recently, trash cans.
“Now, moving forward, I offer my services as a volunteer to oversee Lafitte Park’s operations each day.”
On Tuesday, the council honored Plaisance with a proclamation and plaque for his years of service on the council. Councilman Francis Touchet Jr., with whom Plaisance has worked for 16 years, made the presentation.
“We would like to thank you for everything you have done for the city of Abbeville,” Touchet said. “Councilman Plaisance, we have worked together over these times. We have had some good times and we have had some times where we have been on opposite ends. If there is one thing I know about Councilman Plaisance, when he put his mind to something, he was straight on and did what he had to do for his constituents and those projects that he was involved in.”
Plaisance ran for mayor of Abbeville in March, something he said had been a long-time goal. While he came up short, Plaisance said he wishes all the best to the Mayor-elect Roslyn White and the new council.
Plaisance said, “I thank God, the citizens of Abbeville, the Mayor, the City Council, city employees, and my family for the privilege of serving for 16 years, in the city that we love so much.
“I wish the best for the new administration.”

In this Together

NVMS Jr. Dreams recently attended Universal Dance Associations’ traditional camp at UL Lafayette. With majority of the team being new dancers, Coaches Kenedi LaPointe and Shamayne Istre agreed to begin building a positive mindset. Each morning the girls were greeted with an affirmation for the day. Girls set standards and goals that they wanted to achieve together. After choosing big sis/ little sis, each girl was teamed up with someone to encourage and inspire them. The whole team with determination and hard work achieved the highest awards. The team would like to thank their parents for encouraging their dreams, NVMS administration for being supportive, and coaches for believing in them.

Junior High Home Routine - First Place

Overall Superior Trophy

Performance Routine Hip Hop IV - Superior Ribbon and the Full Out Award
All blue ribbons for each evaluation

Spirit Award

All 8th Graders were chosen as All Americans: Mia Russo, Payton Rider, Gabrielle Leonard, and Blake Landry