Lady Panthers knocked out of playoffs with loss

Going into the regional round of the playoffs, the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers knew it would be a tough match-up against the number three seeded Kaplan Lady Pirates. After all, the Lady Panthers start six sophomores. Pine Prairie felt the effects of having a youthful squad, as they could not get much going offensively in a 5-1 loss to the Lady Pirates on Friday. With the defeat, Pine Prairie finishes with an overall record of 17-5 and a district runner-up finish.
The Lady Pirates took control early in the game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Kaplan sent eight batters to the plate in the inning, launching the Lady Pirates to the 2-0 lead. The Lady Panthers could only advance a runner to second base in the first four innings, not scoring until the top of the fifth inning.
In the top of the fifth, Pine Prairie cut the lead to 2-1, when Sabrina Fontenot scored after singling to lead off the inning. The Lady Pirates did not blink, adding two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, to extend their lead to 4-1. Kaplan added another insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to seal the win.
Alexis Hammond suffered the loss on the mound for Pine Prairie, pitching six complete innings, allowing five runs on three hits. Hammond struck out four and walked four. Tori Johnson, Shaina Boutte, Macy Harvey and Fontenot were all one for three at the plate for Pine Prairie.
Lady Panther Head Coach Carolyn Deville hailed the perseverance of her players on the season. “I am very proud of my team this year, having to deal with a lot of adversity. They showed a lot of resilience and grew better every week of the season. I wish we could have played one more game, but we still had a very good year. We just could not put it together today. We probably could have used one more day of rest. I want to thank my girls, especially the seniors, for the tremendous effort they put forth this year.”
(Editor’s Note: It was incorrectly reported in Thursday’s edition that Pine Prairie’s Sabrina Fontenot hit a home run against Jena in the bi-district playoff game. It should have read the Sara Tate hit the home run off Lady Giant pitching. The Gazette regrets that error,)