Lady Pirates give PPHS the slip

Pine Prairie made the short trip to Kaplan Friday afternoon to take on the second-ranked Lady Pirates. Pine Prairie Head Coach Carolyn Deville knew it was not going to be an easy task, but felt like her hard-working team had a good chance. The Lady Panthers had just won their first ever Class 3A playoff game and they were looking to pull the upset.
“My girls worked hard all season and came together in a new division and still managed to get a share of the district championship and earn their way to a second-round playoff game,” Deville commented. “The team’s success was impressive and I want to commend the leadership of our only senior, Alyssa Jackson.”
The Lady Pirates were coming off of a season where they scored an average of over 10 runs per game and led Class 3A in home runs. That did not phase the Lady Panthers.
In the bottom of the first inning, Kaplan’s fastest girl on the team, Olivia Gabor beat out a bunt for a base hit. She then stole second base and scored on a fielder’s choice. Her run would be the only run of the contest.
Kaplan threatened in the sixth inning, but the Pine Prairie defense managed to force Kaplan off the field. Beside that, the pitching duo of Alexis Hammond and Jackson did the work.
Kaplan’s dominating pitcher, Abby Trahan handcuffed the Lady Panthers most of the game. She worked three up and three down for the first five innings. While Trahan did not strike out a ton of batters, she managed to force ground outs and pop outs throughout the game.
Sabrina Fontenot led the PPHS offense with a 2-3 performance at the plate.
Pine Prairie was eliminated from the Class 3A playoffs with the 1-0 loss.