Cajun Navy rescues North Texas youth baseball team in Mississippi

FORT WORTH, Texas - Players on a North Texas youth baseball team were among those rescued from rapidly rising floodwaters along the Gulf Coast.

Stranded during the storm

The Parker County Pickles’ journey to their 13U division World Series tournament started out exciting and fun. Then on Thursday, torrential rain and flooding began affecting the Gulfport, Mississippi area where they were staying.

"It was Thursday night. It started getting bad. We were supposed to play our games that had been rescheduled the next day," said Keri Volmert, a parent.

Floodwaters continued to rise at their Airbnb, and by Friday morning, the water was threatening their safety.

"The house is three levels. The property is three levels, and it was all the way up to the second level. The water was starting to rush in," Volmert said.

A plea to the Cajun Navy

The team’s leaders decided to send a Facebook message to a volunteer rescue group – the Cajun Navy 2016. The situation was dire by the time the skilled volunteers were able to reach them in boats.

"When they first reached out to us it wasn’t as dire of an emergency. As we went and approached, the water had continued to rise and had really gotten to a dangerous point where they absolutely did need to be evacuated from their premises," said Trey Williams with Cajun Navy 2016.

In total, 12 children, nine adults, and three dogs were safely evacuated by boat. 

Safe and grateful

The team was able to safely relocate to another place to stay. They also finished strong in the tournament with three wins and a loss in the semifinals.

They are now enjoying a day at the beach before returning home.

"We just wanna say we’re so thankful for what they do. They’re very trained, so it wasn’t very scary. We knew they were good at their job. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for saving us. Thank you," said Vance Dobias with the Parker County Pickles.

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