By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
TEAM SEMINARIANS held on to their championship title for the fourth year in a row claiming a 23-12 victory over TEAM PRIESTS during the 2026 Bishop’s Invitational Wiffle Ball Classic.
The annual fundraiser for the Serra Club that supports the Office of Vocations took place on Saturday, August 1, in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Family Life Center gymnasium. A series of promo videos with a “Lord of the Rings” theme built up excitement for game day with both teams vying for the “golden” wiffle ball trophy.
The Seminarians were on fire at the plate with Luka Hagen putting the first run on the scoreboard followed by Ezekial Richmond and Caden Gaudet, shutting out the Priests 3-0 in the first inning.
Paul Perez and Nicholas Poncho added two more runs with Poncho being the first to make a home run for the Seminarians in the second inning.
With a 5-0 score at the top of the second, it was enough to wake up the Priests into some wiffle ball action. Father Hunter Larocca was the first on his team to cross home plate followed by Monsignor Daniel Torres, Father Trey Ange, Father Levi Thompson, Father Michael Caraway and Father Joseph Caraway, putting the Priests ahead by one point (6-5) going into the third inning.
The Priests’ lead would not last long, slipping behind 10-6 while Seminarians Ethan Vaughn, Dylan Dattola, Perez, Hagen, and Richmond added five more runs in the third inning.
With no team making it across home plate in the fourth inning, it looked like the Priests were making a comeback in the fifth inning tying the game up 11-11. They quickly lost their way as the Seminarians left the Priests in the dust adding 12 more runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Giving it all he had and then some, Father Larocca managed to slip in one more run for the Priests for a final score of 23-12. Larocca, who played on the Seminarians team last year, moved to TEAM PRIESTS this year since he was ordained in September 2025. He did his part to make a few runs, but it would not be enough to break the four-year losing streak for the Priests.
“I am speechless. The priests need a whole new team. Everyone needs to go except for the Caraways,” Father Larocca said about the Priests’ performance. He even joked last year saying, “It always feels good to be a winner, but I know that could change next year since I will be moving to the Team of Priests.”
Poncho, who is a Wiffle Ball Champion at Notre Dame Seminary with Richmond, summed up the Seminarians’ victory saying, “We came, and we lit it up. When the score tied, we had to take a minute, calm everybody down and focus on the basic plays we needed to make. We worked on our fielding, where we were going to throw the ball and how we were going to communicate.”
Richmond has only been a part of TEAM SEMINARIANS for two years but said, “It looks like the tradition for the seminarians is winning, so we are going to keep doing it.”
Wiffle Ball fans were cheering in a special way for Seminarian Justin Fontenot who had to miss out this year while he begins his next four years of studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
A large cutout of Fontenot wearing a Seminarian team jersey was placed on a chair and included in the Championship photo since he was with them “in Wiffle Ball spirit.”
Justin’s mother, Michelle Fontenot, said, “The Wiffle Ball game has always been Justin’s fun time. Just because he is at the seminary in Rome, I wanted him to be here with us. From my momma’s heart, I couldn’t not have him here.”
As Wiffle Ball Champions, the Team of Seminarians received a $2,000 check for the Seminary Burse Fund, and the Team of Priests received $1,000 for the Priests Retirement Fund.
During the fourth-inning stretch, a live auction of several items brought in $1,000 thanks to Westlake Mayor Hal McMillin and his wife Sue, and several generous donors in the stands.
High bidders were:
- Framed autographed TEAM PRIESTS jersey — $125, Adrian Little
- Framed autographed TEAM SEMINARIANS jersey — $100, Toby Richmond
- Wiffle Ball DVD of promotional videos — Kevin Fontenot, $50
- 3 autographed Wiffle Balls from game home runs — Dr. David Landry, $50; Brayden Broussard, $50; and Toby Richmond, $125
- Golf game at the National Golf Club of Louisiana with Father Joseph Caraway and Father Michael Caraway — $400, Andrew Broussard
- Father Trey Ange’s 25-year-old Gollum T-shirt from Hot Topic in the Prien Lake Mall — $100, Katrina Fuselier
TEAM PRIESTS included:
- Father Michael Caraway (Vocations Director)
- Monsignor Daniel Torres (Pastor, Our Lady Queen of Heaven)
- Father Trey Ange (Pastor, St. Mary of the Lake)
- Father Joseph Caraway (Chancellor)
- Father Michael Beverung (Parochial Vicar, St. Henry)
- Father Paul Jussen (Pastor, Our Lady of Good Counsel)
- Father Mathew Panackal, MOC (Judicial Vicar)
- Father Levi Thompson (Pastor, St. Joseph in DeRidder)
- Father Hunter Larocca (Parochial Vicar, Our Lady of Prompt Succor)
The seminarians’ team consisted of Nicholas Poncho, Luka Hagen, Owen Bailey, Ezekial Richmond, Caden Gaudet, Paul Perez, Dylan Dattola, Ethan Vaughn, and Justin Fontenot (from Rome).
For more information on the Office of Vocations, visit www.lcvocations.com or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
VIEW GAME DAY PHOTOS ON ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF LAKE CHARLES FACEBOOK PAGE.
