[2/20/04]The fast-pitch softball season will begin this evening with a pair of games at Warren Central against a Louisiana squad.

Warren Central will open at 5:30 p.m. against Sarepta, La., a tiny Class 1A school located in extreme Northwest Louisiana a few miles from the Arkansas border.

Tony Mullins, a Warren Central graduate, coaches Sarepta and wanted to take his team on an overnight road trip, WC coach Lucy Young said.

Following the WC game, Sarepta will play St. Aloysius, also at Warren Central.

“This will be a first for us,” Mullins said. “We usually stay pretty close to home.”

Of the 135 students in the high school, Mullins has 24 on the softball team. Twenty more players comprise the junior varsity squad.

“We are decent. Not great, but decent,” said Mullins, who started the program 14 years ago and has led his teams to five district championships and three runner-up finishes in the last 10 years. “Last summer we had more players on the softball team than the baseball team.”

Mullins said the team will leave for Vicksburg this morning, eat at one of the casinos, then visit several Vicksburg tourist sites.

After spending the night, the team will play a doubleheader against Tallulah High on Saturday.

“I really don’t know how we stack up against Warren Central, but I think it will be a good test to see exactly where we stand.”