FERRIDAY — Competition will intensify for the Ferriday Gators and Ferriday Fear this weekend as both teams travel to state tournaments.

Gators coach Rut Horne hopes his team is aware, coming off of a district tournament win against inferior teams.

“The overall competition in the district tournament was not the strongest as it could have been, and I can assure that it will be much tougher this weekend,” Horne said.

Horne, who coached his Ferriday team to a state tournament victory last year, believes this will be the most competitive state tournament for 17- and 18-year-old softball tournaments. He has reason to believe that after last year’s world series featured two Louisiana teams — Alexandria and Ferriday. Both teams will be on hand in Harvey, La. for the state tournament, which begins Saturday.

“I really believe that whoever wins this tournament will win the World Series,” Horne said. “I think the competition is that tough.”

Consistency in pitching and patience at the plate is Horne’s recipe for success for his Gators, and unlike last season, Horne’s Gators do not possess game-changing team speed. Horne said the Gators make up for it with their hitting, changing Horne’s philosophy going into the state tournament.

“This is the first year that I’ve had in quite a few years that we didn’t play a lot of small ball,” Horne said. “The reason is this is a better hitting team. We’ve got 10 players on the roster that can crush it.”

Jeannie Beach could classify her Ferriday Fear squad as a hot hitting club, as well. Fresh off finishing second in the district tournament, Beach said her team swung the bat well throughout the tourney, and fell short in the district tournament finals because of inconsistency in timely hitting.

“We actually had more hits and more people on base, but we didn’t get the hits when we needed them,” Beach said. “Our sticks are hot right now, though.”

Beach’s 15- and 16-year-old bunch will play in the state tournament in Pineville, and like Horne’s Gators, the Fear won’t find out which team they play until the night before the tournament begins Saturday.

Not knowing which team she’ll see Saturday puts a wrinkle in Beach’s plans for which player she’ll throw. Still, regardless of who pitches, Beach wants to see better command and location out of her collective pitching staff at the tournament.

“We have to be able to hit spots and change the speed of our pitching,” Beach said. “We have to be able to get movement on the ball. We only have 15 innings a pitcher in the tournament, so we just can’t rely on one player. It has to be a team effort.”

Beach believes that pitching will tell the story of her team’s fate in the tournament, but rest assured, she has full faith that her team’s bats and defense can provide the insurance her pitching staff may need.

“I have confidence in our defense, even if we get into pitching trouble,” Beach said. “As long as we can keep the bats going, I think we’ll be OK.”