With a new coach who has Texas Collegiate League experience, the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators fans will see some differences to the game day experience next year.
The Gumbeaux Gators team, which debuted in December 2023, has been owned by an ownership group for its first two seasons and has seen high attendance and community response, regardless of its record.
Baton Rouge Rougarou Owner Ronnie Rantz purchased the Gumbeaux Gators on Sept. 12 and later announced that he has some ideas planned for the team and audience experience during a party on Tuesday at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux in Lake Charles.
“I will say this, we will absolutely have a better product on the field as far as wins and losses goes,” Rantz said. “We’re going to have some changes.”
For starters, Rantz said the team’s coaching staff is currently being finalized but should be announced within the next couple of weeks.
Additionally, Rantz plans to make changes to the team’s recruitment process and its approach to roster management.
“One of the ways you do that is you just start earlier and you are picky, you raise the bar of the type of player that we want to get and not necessarily just go after availability, go after the players we want and that also are willing to make that summer-long commitment,” Rantz said. “Too much in the past, we’ve had guys that maybe only want to play three weeks or four weeks, and we try to do the shuffle the deck accountability, but the most successful teams in summer collegiate baseball have continuity and build that team camaraderie where you’re able to keep half or more of your players through the whole season.”
Rantz says that keeping player continuity was a significant factor in the Baton Rouge Rougaroux’s success this past season.
Although he has plans to improve the roster, Rantz also has additional plans to improve the fan experience.
In 2025, the team broke the attendance record at Joe Miller Park by having 2,800 attendees and 2,500 for the first home games of the season. Rantz said the highest attendance for a game in Baton Rouge was 756 people for a championship game.
With its high attendance, the facility’s concessions stand hasn’t been able to keep up, according to Rantz.
“One thing I can guarantee is that you will not be waiting an hour and a half of food,” Rantz said. “We will have a much better system for getting your food, and it will be of much better quality as well.”
Plans are in place to increase the number of concessions and beverage stands.
While concessions will be on the block for improvement, Rantz said there will also be activities and promotions to help bring in and keep fans.
For example, he said the team will have fireworks during every Friday home game throughout the season.
“Obviously, they got off to a good start, just kind of introducing baseball and the Texas collegiate League to the folks in Lake Charles, but I think the sky’s the limit,” Rantz said. “I think the Gumbeaux Gators could be the number one team in the league, from a standpoint of attendance and the standpoint of just a fan experience, the facility is second to none, and the community loves baseball.”
In addition to Rantz having majority ownership, Mike and Sharamie Moore, who were a part of the former ownership group, and Justin and Charlie Brashear also share minority ownership in the team.
While she and her husband are only minority owners, Sharamie said they will still be very active in the team, but she believes that Rantz will help bring it to a whole new level.
“Just (with) his connections in sports, he will bring this team to a whole new level,” Sharamie said. “He’s definitely going to elevate us all, and we’ll grow the following with him here, as well as hopefully recruit better players and have a couple of good winning seasons.”
Similar to Sharamie, Lake Charles Regional Sports Authority Executive Director Eric Zartler said that while the team has a good foundation, Rantz will come in and tweak some things the team has previously struggled with, such as the congestion at the concessions line.
For Zartler, Rantz taking ownership of the team is a full circle moment since he was the first person they talked to about starting the Gumbeaux Gators in Lake Charles.
“We went to Baton Rouge and met with him, and he kind of convinced us, ‘Hey, this is something you guys need to do here,'” Zartler said. “We did it, and to see the success of it, to see the people in the stands, and then to see that full circle moment where Ronnie says, ‘Hey, I want in on this. I want, I want a piece of this.’ He came in full throttle, and we’re really looking forward to his leadership and his experience and his expertise in running the team.”