Tonight’s game between Vicksburg and Warren Central will offer a little something more than crosstown rivals getting together for the county’s opener on the softball diamond.

It will mark a reunion of sorts, as six members, now seniors, of the Vicksburg Sluggers tournament team are honored for their eight-year run from 1999-2007 that resulted in plenty of trophies and medals for all.

If you go

Today, 5:30 p.m. – WC vs. Vicksburg, at Bazinsky Park

Admission: $4

All six proved the value of what has become a quality feeder system for the county’s high school programs. St. Aloysius’ Sarah Franco and Catelyn Park, Warren Central’s Mandy Fuller and Andi Hearn, and Vicksburg’s Claiborne Bryant and Kristi Shelby, all former Sluggers, are now key players on their respective high school teams.

The six endured car rides all over the south. They took their lumps as youngsters in 1999, competing against teams far more experienced. They endured the tragedy of the passing of one of their teammates, Erin Hubert, in a car accident in 2003. The team disbanded in 2007.

But on those hot summer diamonds in endless tournaments and monotonous practices, they forged their abilities and lasting friendships.

With several of their fathers making coaching a family affair, life was not easy for the team. But their hard work and dedication made them the players they are today.

“It all paid off,” Park said, adding that her father Howard, now a St. Al assistant coach, instilled a discipline in them that carries over to this day. “If he hadn’t been that tough, we probably won’t be here.”

In the end, they showed the region that Warren County was a force to be reckoned with on the softball diamond.

The team started in 1999 and even picking a name presented plenty of difficulty. But after one of the coaches, Tony Franco, suggested Sluggers, it won in a team vote.

At first, the team did little to live up to its name. It didn’t win a tournament until 2002. But the breakthrough was tempered with heartache. First baseman Hubert was killed in a car wreck with her sister Courtney, a soccer player at Mississippi State, in May of 2003 as the Sluggers began summer tournament play.

The whole team attended their teammate’s funeral and began a tradition to honor her. They added Hubert’s number, four, to the ball on their jerseys. Whenever they left the dugout on defense, every player would also stop and kiss first base one at a time in honor of Hubert.

“It’s tough to have to go through that when you’re 12 years old,” Franco said. “We were all good friends because we spent every summer together. We were always together.”

In 2004, the Sluggers placed third in the ASA 12-and-under state tournament and seventh out of 19 teams at the Eastern Nationals.

There were strange incidents along the way. During one tournament, the teams drew names out of a hat for an exchange of goody bags.

The Sluggers received a bag full of train whistles from an Indiana team. The noisy whistles became a fixture in the Sluggers’ dugout, until some humorless umpires told the players to cease the racket.

Another time, a set of ill-fitting uniforms caused some embarrassment.

“They were ginormous,” Franco said. “They’d probably be too big on us now. We’d have our little jerseys on and they’d cover up our shorts. They were like dresses.”

There was the inevitable burnout factor, with tournaments sometimes forcing the Sluggers to play four games in a single day under the blistering summer sun.

“We’d play on Friday night, all day Saturday, all day Sunday,” Bryant said. “We’d play four games a day. We’d play that last game on Sunday when there was nobody left at the park and we’d be falling asleep.”

In 2005, the Sluggers finished second in the state.  They disbanded two years later as the players began to focus on high school ball. Now the friendships remain and a friendly rivalry has begun as their paths cross several times a year on the high school diamond.

“I think it’s fun to play against each other, especially when you’ve played together your whole life,” Shelby said.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.