Bowing out

SULPHUR -- Carolyn Deville wanted to remind her ball club just how far it had come.
With an empty field behind her and tears in her eyes, the longtime Pine Prairie softball coach stood in front of her Lady Panthers in the minutes following their 9-0 defeat at the Fast Pitch 56. Deville commended her team’s effort not only in loss to top seed Parkview Baptist, but also on the progress the program has made by advancing to the state tournament for the first time in three years, and first time in Class 3A.
“I asked them ‘what is the difference between this year and last year?’” Deville said. “Last year we had to pay to get into the tournament and this year we didn’t. I just wanted these girls to realize that there are a lot of teams that would wish they were here. It is not easy to get down here.”
Pine Prairie’s inexperience on the artificial turf at Frasch Park, and playing on the big stage, reared its head in the opening frame.
Parkview’s leadoff hitter Nicky Dawson reached on a single but three costly fielding errors allowed the Lady Eagles to go on and score three runs.
“That definitely set the tone,” Deville said. “You can’t give up three errors which ended up being three unearned runs in the first inning.”
Pine Prairie’s defense, and starting pitcher sophomore Karlie Ortego, both seemed to calm down after that first inning. Ortego would only give up one more run in the next four innings. That run came from Hannah Fontenot scoring on an error in the fourth.
The problem for Pine Prairie was the fact that the Panthers couldn’t get anything going offensively.
Parkview starting pitcher Taylor Spencer was dominant as she scattered two hits while striking out eight Pine Prairie hitters.
“We knew it wasn’t by chance that Parkview Baptist was the No. 1 team,” Deville said. “I kept telling them to just breathe and I think it took that first inning for that to happen. Unfortunately that hill was just too high to climb.”
Parkview would put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Lady Eagles scored four runs. Pine Prairie’s season would come to an end moments later as the Lady Panthers were unable to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh.
Pine Prairie ended its season with an overall record of 26-6.
Deville admitted that playing at the Fast Pitch, and playing on the artificial turf, did make a difference for her young team on Friday.
“This was foreign waters for us,” Deville said. “The Sulphur Tournament this year got rained out totally. So playing in this atmosphere on this type of artificial turf was huge for my kids. That said, this was a huge milestone for this group of young ladies. I wish it would have ended more positively but I think they needed this. This will only be a growing experience from here.”
Deville added that this experience will serve as the foundation for greater things to come.
“Our ultimate goal was to actually get here this season,” Deville said. “This was not a bad year. I am very proud of what we saw from this team this year and positive about our future.”