By T. Scott Boatright
They started life as young boys throwing baseballs to each other in family front yards.
Now they’re teammates vying for the Louisiana Class B state championship on Saturday.
The baseball ties that bind are strong in the Hennen family, as if they live in their own special “Field of Dreams,”:
That’s what two grandsons of V.A. Hennen are doing today — living their hardball dreams playing in front of the “Paw-pa” who was there long before they are now.
When the Choudrant Aggies play in the state title game against Elizabeth in Sulphur on Saturday morning, senior Luke Tassin and sophomore Landon Hennen will be playing their usual integral roles as Aggies.
But this duo are not only not tied together by the Aggie brotherhood … they share the same blood, too.
Tassin and Hennen are first cousins, and their ties to Choudrant High baseball run much deeper than that.
Grandfather V.A. Hennen was a standout Choudrant baseballer who later played under Barry Hinton at Louisiana Tech.
Tassin’s late father, Norman, who passed away after a long battle with cancer in February, coached Marion High School to a 2006 state championship and later guided Downsville to the 2016 title game.
The Aggie family resin and baseball blood doesn’t end there.
Hennen’s father Benny was a standout baseball for the Aggies who later went on to play as a Louisiana Tech Bulldog.
Coach Tony Antley’s entire Choudrant team are more like family than friends. But the concrete roots put in place by V.A. Hennen undoubtedly play a role in putting their family team within 21 outs of another state championship.
The Aggies will get their chance starting at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Class B state title game in Sulphur.
