FERRIDAY — For the second year in a row, the Ferriday Dixie Belles 13-15-year-old team will be playing in the Dixie Girls Softball World Series as the representatives of the state of Louisiana.

However, they will have to travel much farther than they did last year when the tournament was in Alexandria. This year, the tournament is in Sumter, S.C. — a 14-hour drive from Ferriday. Sumter is located about 200 miles northeast of Atlanta.

The opening ceremonies will take place on Friday while the action gets under way on Saturday. Ferriday will take on Florida at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“We’ve gotten a lot of support from the community. We’ve received donations. Personally, I hate to ask for money,” head coach Rut Horne said. “We’ve got all our rooms booked. The closest hotel for parents is 20 miles away (from Sumter).”

Horne said that while some of the players are very excited to be participating in the Dixie Girls Softball World Series, this is the second go-around for six players. Last year the Dixie Belles played three games, winning one and losing two.

“We’re a little stronger offensively. Our pitching has been steady. I’m optimistic about our chances,” Horne said.

Horne said for the Dixie Belles to win the championship, they are going to continue to hit the ball well, play good defense, continue to pitch well and use its extraordinary team speed.

“We can hit the ball. If we get a person on base, we’re going to steal second,” Horne said. “The team’s got so much speed. At the World Series, we’re probably going to see the same kind of pitching we saw from JPRD and Grant Parish in the state tournament. Seven kids on our team are left-handed. Our pitchers keep the ball low, which causes a lot of groundouts.”

Among the key players on the team are pitchers Laura Perilloux, who was the starting pitcher in every game in the state tournament; Mollie Devening, who is the team’s middle reliever; and closer Ellen Bairnsfather, who had an up-and-down state tournament.

“Laura doesn’t get frustrated very much. Mollie throws a little harder than Perilloux. Ellen, they’ve probably hit her harder. She gave up the most hits. But in the last two games of the state tournament against JPRD and Grant Parish, she settled in and threw extremely well.”

Bairnsfather allowed just one base runner and struck out five in four combined innings as the Dixie Belles won their second straight state championship.

“I hope we can go with three pitchers. If not, we’ve got Ginny Daggett. I pitch her every day. She’s ready to go. She’s also a power hitter. She can hit ‘em over the park.”

Other key players on the team include catcher Taylor Morace, the only 15-year-old in the infield and who Horne described as the anchor of the team, and third baseman Savannah Johnston, who is batting close to .600 this summer.

“She tells everybody where to be on defense. If there are runners on first and third, she tells them where they should be at,” Horne said. “Nobody steals on her. We have three or four batters batting over .500.”