Lady Cardinals smash LCCP 21-10
LAKE CHARLES – Trailing 10-8 heading into the top of the fifth inning and seeking its first win since re-establishing softball back at Lacassine High School, the Lady cardinals took things into their own hands by throwing up a 13-run frame to take a 21-10 advantage into the bottom half of the fifth. That would be all the Lady Cardinals would need as they held the Lake Charles College Prep (LCCP) Trailblazers scoreless in the final frame to claim the 10-run rule victory and get into the win column.
Head Coach Brittany Nunez spoke of the determination and drive of her young ladies to never quit, and just what this win means to the new program.
“These girls have had to endure some lumps early on, yet they just continue to come out and never give up and keep playing hard every time out,” said an exuberant Nunez. “We just continued to battle, stay in the game and then explode for the big 13-run fifth inning. Hopefully this win will give the girls some confidence going forward to see that they can compete and win ball games. I can’t begin to explain how proud of each and every one of them I am.”
The Lady Cards (1-8) jumped on the board immediately in the top of the first by tossing up a 6 spot, benefitting from 5 free passes from LCCP pitching. Hannah Kozelski scored on a wild pitch, Maggie Leckelt scored on a bases loaded walk and Breanna Talbot laced a 3-RBI double into the gap in left field to make it 5-0. Jadelyn Bourque was able to score the final run of the inning when she scampered home on a passed ball to make it 6-0.
LCCP was able to scratch 2 runs across on Lady Card starter Haylie Hoffpauir, however she shut the door by stranding 2 base runners when she fanned a Trailblazer hitter to end the threat.
Lacassine went quietly in the top of the second, however the Trailblazers scored 4 runs with 2 outs to tie the game at 6-6 after 2 complete innings. After Hoffpauir struck out the first batter she faced and forced a groundout to Bourque at third, 3 walks, a pair of errors and a base hit allowed LCCP to tie the game.
The Lady Cardinals wasted little time in climbing back on top when Alexis Shelton was able to motor home on a passed ball and eighth-grader Giselle Fuentes scored Kindal Tonn on a fielder’s choice to make it 8-6
Over the third and fourth innings, LCCP fought back with 4 runs of their own to grab a 10-8 lead heading in to the top of the fifth. That’s when Nunez’s Lady Cardinals decided to take things into their own hands.
“That was huge for us. We could have gotten down after giving up the lead, but our girls just didn’t allow that to happen,” said Nunez. “We went out, had good atbats and put the game away. That’s what we are trying to teach these girls- how to find that mentality of continuing to fight no matter what. I think they saw that today come to fruition.”
The big fifth inning came via pounding the softball instead of free passes. Kozelski led off the frame with a base hit, followed by a walk to Leckelt. Fuentes promptly singled home Kozelski to make it 10-9, but Hoffpauir would give Lacassine a lead it would never relinquish when she popped a 2-RBI double to left to score Leckelt and Fuentes. One hitter later, Kassi Thibodeaux laced an RBI single to plate Hoffpauir to make it 12-10. Tonn would also get it on the hit parade by busting a 2-RBI single.IN all, Lacassine would finish with 13 runs in the top of the fifth to make it 21-10.
Talbot, who came on in relief of Hoffpauir in the third, held the Trailblazers scoreless in the bottom of the fifth to end the ball game. Talbot earned the win in relief by tossing 3 innings of 1-hit ball and struck out 4. She gave up 4 runs, however only 1 was earned. Hoffpauir threw the first 2 frames and gave up 6 runs on 1 hit, but walked 6. Of the 6 runs she gave up, none were earned.
Thibodeaux led the charge at the plate for Lacasine by going 2-for-3 and drove in 5 runs, while Talbot helped her own cause by going 1-for-3 with 3 RBI’s. Shelton finished her day 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, while Hoffpauir was 1-for-3 with her 3 RBI double. Fuentes also drove in a pair of runs, while Tonn knocked in 2 as well.
Lacassine returns to action today when they play host to Singer High School at the Jennings Recreation Department. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.