Lady Cats earn pair of district wins
By Tom Dodge
The Eunice Lady Bobcats scored two runs in the bottom of the bottom of the sixth inning to grab a 3-2 District 4-4A win over DeRidder on Wednesday.
The Lady Cats followed up with a 13-0 district win over LaGrange on Thursday.
The rally against DeRidder started when Emily Turner was hit by a pitch. Jori Lejeune singled and Blair Fuselier drew a walk to load the bases.
Andrea Kramer hit a liner that DeRidder second baseman Lauren Pruitt couldn’t handle cleanly which allowed pinch runner Camille Faul to score and tie the game, 2-2.
Sarah Hebert followed with a sacrifice RBI to drive in pinch runner K. K. Devillier for the go-ahead run.
“Anytime you can win a district game at home that is big,” Eunice head coach Scott Deshotel said after the game. “We played well defensively and Jori pitched well, but offensively we have to get better.”
The game was scoreless until the Lady Cats scored in the bottom of the third inning when Amber Darbonne walked and scored on a sacrifice RBI from Lejeune.
DeRidder tied the game in the top of the fourth when Tara Woods singled over second base and later scored on a Lady Bobcat throwing error.
Lejeune earned the win for Eunice (9-5-2, 1-1) as she struck out 10, walked three and allowed two runs on five hits.
DeRidder lead-off batter Marley Westfall finished as the Lady Dragons’ top hitter as she went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
While the Lady Cats only managed one hit (Lejeune’s singled in the sixth), Eunice took advantage of two Lady Dragons errors and recorded two sacrifice RBI from Lejeune and Hebert that proved to be the difference in the game.
“We have been hitting the ball real well all year,” the coach commented. “It seems like the last couple of games we are in a little slump and we are not stringing together enough hits.
“Once we get one of the girls to start hitting and we get our confidence back at the plate, we will be okay.”
EHS 13, LaGrange 0
Eunice pitcher Andrea Kramer threw a 2-hit shutout and the Lady Cats offense rapped seven hits and drew 12 free passes in the easy win over LaGrange.
“I told the ladies we had to be patient at the plate and stand there until we got a strike,” EHS head coach Scott Deshotel said. “We showed a lot of discipline as we weren’t going to give in and swing at bad pitches.”
The Lady Cats scored first in the bottom of the opening inning when lead-off hitter Camille Faul walked and later scored on a passed ball.
EHS increased its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second when Sarah Hebert and Amber Darbonne and K. K. Devillier all walked off LaGrange pitcher Shameka Robinson.
Courtesy runner Jennifer Frey scored on a passed ball, while Darbonne crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly by Camille Faul.
Eunice pushed across three runs in the bottom of the third stanza to jump ahead 6-0.
Blair Fuselier walked, stole second and scored on a passed ball. Hebert then singled to centerfield and pinch runner Frey moved to second and third on consecutive passed balls.
Kramer was hit by a pitch and Darbonne drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Devillier was hit by a pitch to plate Frey and Kramer scored when Camille drew a base on balls.
The Lady Cats continued its offensive assault with a seven-run surge in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Blair Fuselier and Britney Faul both singled to open the inning and Emily Turner walked to load the bases. Fuselier would score on a throwing error by the LaGrange pitcher on Kramer’s fielder’s choice.
Brittany Faul scored on a RBI walk by Darbonne and Devillier drew another bases-loaded walk to drive in Turner.
Camille Faul singled in pinch runner Courtney Fuselier and Lejeune also singled to score Darbonne.
In her second plate appearance of the inning, Fuselier hit a bases loaded sacrifice to centerfield allowing Devillier to score.
Camille Faul scored the final run of the inning when she raced across on an error by Lady Gator second baseman Camille Dorsey.
Kramer closed out the impressive win with two strikeouts of the final four LaGrange batters.
Kramer finished with seven strikeouts on two hits as only three LaGrange batters reached base.
“The defense backed her up and Andrea pitched a great game,” Deshotel said. “Anytime you can shut somebody out you have done a good job of defense and pitching.”
After participating in the St. Landry Parish tournament on Saturday, Eunice hosts Sam Houston 5 p.m. on Tuesday in a District 4-4A showdown.