Last summer, former Minden standout Brody Bower and then Glenbrook star Easton Sanders helped the Bossier Phillies advance to the American Legion World Series.
The duo are looking to do it again this summer.
Bower and Sanders are two of 11 players returning off last year’s squad that won the state tournament and Mid-South Regional.
Bower just completed his freshman season at BPCC. He was part of a team that won a conference title for the first time in 25 years. Sanders completed his outstanding high school career last month and is bound for Louisiana Tech.
The Phillies include players from Louisiana and Texas. There are a combination of players still in high school or have just graduated and a few who just finished their freshman college seasons.
The Phillies opened their sumner season last week with victories over Swing Lab 18U 5-3, USA Prime-Red 9-0, a Monroe-based team 11-0 and Elevations 18s Smith 180.
Sanders had a hit and two RBI in the first game. Bower took the mound in the third inning and pitched three perfect innings.
Sanders went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI in the second game and hit a two-run home run in the third. He went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in the fourth. He also struck out five of the six batters he faced in two innings on the mound.
The Phillies are headed to Crowley Friday and are scheduled to play four games in three days.
Other players returning from the 2024 squad are infielder Blayne McFerren, infielder/pitcher Britain Pipes, catcher Griffin Sibley, infielder Hudson Brignac, outfielder Jackson Jones, pitcher/outfielderer Kade Bryant, pitcher Tanner Webb, infielder Abel Therford and infielder Ty Boozer.
Sibley, Jones, Bryant and Webb just completed their high school careers at Benton. They helped the Tigers go 35-6, win the District 1-5A championship and reach the non-select Division I semifinals.
Sibley is continuing his career at Southeastern Iowa Community College. Jones is bound for Louisiana Tech and Bryant is headed to Northwestern State.
Brignac is also a former Benton standout. He recently completed an outstanding freshman season at Northwestern State.
Webb is headed to Northeast Texas Community College.
Thetford, an infielder and pitcher, is a 2025 Parkway graduate. He was a first-team All-District selection at utility. Thetford is continuing his career at Pearl River Community College.
McFerren is a former North DeSoto standout who was on ULM’s roster last season. Pipes is a 2025 graduate of Liberty-Eylau.
Boozer is a 2025 graduate of Pleasant Grove (Texas) High School.
Three members of Benton’s 2025 roster are new additions to the Phillies’ roster this summer — rising senior infielders Case Jorden and Cole Snell and pitcher Thomas Allen.
All three were first-team All-District 1-5A selections. Allen was the Pitcher of the Year.
Brock Laird, a 2025 Natchitoches Central graduate, and Gavin Brint, a 2025 Loyola College Prep graduate, are also new additions.
Laird, an infielder, was a first-team All-District 1-5A selection at utility. He is a Southeastern Louisiana signee.
Brint was the Pitcher of the Year on the All-District 1-4A team. He is headed to Belhaven College.
Outfielder Dillon Braxton, a 2025 Natchitoches Central graduate who was second-team All-District last season, is also on the roster.
Kam Wrightner, a multi-sport rising senior at Texas High in Texarkana, has also joined the team.