Remaining perfect

The streak continues.
A perfect season remained intact for the Pine Prairie Lady Panther softball team, as they easily handled Ville Platte on Wednesday afternoon, rolling past the Lady Bulldogs 17-0, behind Karli Ortego’s perfect game on the mound.
With that win, Pine Prairie is now 19-0 on the year and 5-0 in District 5-3A competition. Not only that, but the Lady Panthers have not allowed a run in the past five district games.
Although Pine Prairie has seen their share of amazing seasons in the past, 2016 may be one for the record books.
Head coach Carolyn Deville is very aware of what this streak means to her team, but she is determined to keep her players grounded.
“This has been a very notable season so far,” said Deville. “It is a tremendous honor for our team to be playing at this level so deep into the season. However, we know that we have a huge target on our backs.”
“We as coaches try to keep them focused on one game at a time,” Deville continued. “They know that things can change really quickly. So far, we have been pretty level-headed. We know that we cannot look past anyone. It is important that they appreciate every game.”
Against Ville Platte that appreciation for the game showed through in a huge way.
Ortego struck out the side in the top of the first inning to set the tone for the Lady Panthers.
Pine Prairie scored early and often, starting in the bottom of the first, as the Lady Panthers plated seven runs. Most of the runs came via walks and errors from the Ville Platte defense.
Ortego was on target once again in the top of the second, as she struck out two of three batters she faced and did not allow a base runner.
Pine Prairie added another run in the bottom of the second. Shaina Boutte was hit by pitch to lead off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt from Jacie McFarlain and a single from Macey Harvey, Boutte scored on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Tori Johnson to give the Lady Panthers an 8-0 lead.
Ortego once again retired Ville Platte in order in the top of the third, all on strike outs.
Pine Prairie finished the run-rule victory in the bottom of the third by scoring nine runs.
In the inning, Sara Tate and Brandy Manuel doubled, while Julia Chaddrick, Allie Fontenot and Johnson all singled to help push runs across the plate.
Even with the dominating pitching and solid defense this season, Deville has been particularly impressed with the offense of her young team.
“We have really had a lot more offensive power this season than in the past,” said Deville. “Our defense and pitching is still there, but our offense had really stepped it up.”
Case in point, Pine Prairie has scored 204 runs in 19 games for an unbelievable 10.7 runs per game.
The Lady Panthers will face a tough week coming up, as they will play a district game every day starting tomorrow by hosting Church Point.