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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Neil Simoneaux
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Home Phone: 337-356-4505 Graduated in General Studies and played on 2000 college world series team. Baseball: Former Cajun Neil Simoneaux recalls trip August 18, 2005 – Simoneaux recalls trip Dan McDonald WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Neil Simoneaux didn’t realize what a big deal it was back in 1992. When he and his South Lake Charles Little League teammates made their run to the Little League World Series 13 summers ago, he never saw the hoopla back home until it was over. “We flew to the regional in St. Petersburg, Fla., and won there,” Simoneaux said, “and from there we flew straight to Williamsport. We didn’t really get the feeling of the whole deal at home until we got back.” That South Lake Charles team went 1-2 in the Little League World Series but still returned to a hero’s welcome – much like the one the Lafayette Little League team received Sunday returning from Waco, Texas, with its Southwest Regional championship in tow. Simoneaux went on to a standout baseball career on the high school, collegiate and professional levels, but he well remembers every detail of his team’s Little League World Series trip. “The overall experience, just being there and seeing that field that you see on TV,” Simoneaux said. “Playing in front of all those people, we were pretty awe-struck.” The Lafayette squad didn’t appear awe-struck Saturday when they topped Bryant, Ark., 4-1 in the Southwest finals, capping their first-ever regional appearance with their first-ever trip to the World Series. Even the distractions of national television and an appearance by President George W. Bush didn’t faze the locals. But they haven’t taken the field at Williamsport yet. They’ll get their first taste of the Series Saturday at 10 a.m. in the opening of pool play against New England Regional champion Westbrook, Maine. That game will be on ESPN, just like last Saturday’s Southwest title game. “I watched a couple of innings,” Simoneaux said of the ESPN broadcast of the Waco finals. “I could see they have a good pitcher (Jace Conrad, who threw a complete game against Arkansas). With him on the mound they can compete with anyone there, I don’t care who they’re playing.” Simoneaux saw his share of good pitching in his career, especially when he helped lead Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun squad to the College World Series in 2000 and later signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He wasn’t the only future professional on that South Lake Charles team. Ex-McNeese standout Jared Gothreaux pitched for that club and is still in the Houston Astros organization with the Class AAA Round Rock Express. That squad was the first Louisiana team since 1955 (Alexandria) to reach the World Series, and another South Lake Charles team also turned that trick in 2001 with Simoneaux’s cousin Ty Todd on that roster. Simoneaux’s squad became a part of Little League World Series history in its 1992 opening game against Hamilton Square, N.J. That game was the first night contest in LLWS history, with lights installed that year. “For that first night game, they probably had 20,000 people there,” Simoneaux said. “They’ve got that whole hill behind the outfield, and that thing was just loaded. We were a bunch of star-struck kids running out there, but once we got on the field and started playing it was just another game.” Simoneaux is in exclusive company with appearances in both the Little League and College World Series, and won’t pick one over the other. “People ask me all the time to compare them, and it’s hard to compare something when you’re 12 and when you’re 21,” he said “When you’re 21 you realize what you’re getting into … when we were 12, we may have known what we were doing but we didn’t realize what it meant. “They’re both great experiences, the highest point you can get to, and they were both a lot of fun. I’ll be watching them if I get a chance.” Any advice he’d give to this year’s Lafayette team? “I’d tell them to go up there and enjoy it,” he said. “Take it all in. For us, it was such a sudden shock, I think we forgot about what we went there to achieve. Enjoy it while it lasts, but go up there and try to win the whole thing.” Originally published August 18, 2005
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