Lake Charles is bringing some “extra spice” to the game of baseball.

Just a month after announcing arena football team Louisiana Voodoo was making Lake Charles its home base, on Tuesday the Texas Collegiate League announced the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators as the sixth team in its league for the upcoming 2024 season. Lake Charles is now the third Louisiana team in the league, joining the Baton Rouge Rougarou and Acadiana Cane Cutters.

The Gators’ first home game will be May 31, 2024, at Joe Miller Stadium on the McNeese State University campus. Their season will consist of 24 home games and 24 road games through July 28, 2024.

“Southwest Louisiana has long, long had a history of success with baseball starting at the youth level with the South Lake Charles Little League going to the Little League World Series up to our dominance in high school baseball across multiple classifications and the success that Justin Hill and the McNeese Cowboys have had in the Southland Conference,” said Kyle Edmiston, president and CEO of Visit Lake Charles.

Edmiston said the Gumbeaux Gators will only add to Southwest Louisiana’s sports profile, offering games that have a minor league feel to the them with family-friendly activities between innings.

“We’ll be adding some extra spice, as we’re known to do in Louisiana, to the baseball game,” he said. “It’s going to be a completely different experience than going to a regular game and the best thing about this is the ownership group is all from here so it’s going to have a completely different flavor.”

The ownership group includes Mike and Sharamie Moore, Joey and Lydia Odom, Brent and Julie Reeves, Luke and Stacey David, and Daniel and Kayla Odom.

Sam Moore, the director of sports relations at Visit Lake Charles, will serve as the general manager, overseeing the roster, players, sponsorships and day-to-day operations.

The roster will feature a diverse mix of 30 players from Division I, II, III, and junior colleges, including locals Parker Morgan, Evan Joubert and Gage Trahan.

“It’s an honor to be on this very first team,” Morgan said. “I love being in the city of Lake Charles and being able to be around my family and play the sport I love.”

Morgan, a red shirt sophomore, is a left-handed pitcher for Louisiana State University-Eunice and is a St. Louis Catholic High School graduate.

“I’m excited to see the attention that it’s going to bring,” said Joubert, who played summer league last year in Kentucky and is an in-fielder who plays second and third for LSU-Eunice.

“Getting to play at home is exciting to me as a player and I think it’s going to be very fun playing with the guys coming on this team,” the St. Louis graduate said.

“This is the first year coming out and we’re trying get something rolling and establish a good culture and a good vibe,” Trahan said. “There’s a lot of baseball fans in this area and, for me playing at McNeese, I’ll be playing on my home field and I’ll get to play in front of our local fans and my family and friends. I’m excited to leave a legacy, leave a mark and get something started.”

Trahan is a Sulphur High graduate and is a freshman in-fielder for the Cowboys.

Moore, who has coached the last seven years at Sulphur High School, said he can’t wait to bring the high-energy “Gumbeaux vibes” to Joe Miller Ballpark.

“We’re known for baseball in Southwest Louisiana and this is just an added team that shows our diversity and sets us apart,” said Moore, who is recruiting players from across the country.

“That’s huge bringing people from all over the country in because they get to know each other and learn from each other. I’m really excited to showcase our local talent, too,” he said. “I hope we fill the stands up, I hope that we bring a lot of excitement. This is next level and we think it’s going to be huge for Lake Charles. In 10 years, we’ll be looking for another ladder to climb.”