Lady Jays stay alive with win
By Tom Dodge
PORT BARRE – Timely hits and a good defense lifted the St. Edmund Lady Jays to a 3-0 win over the Port Barre Lady Devils on Thursday.
“They just put a few hits together,” St. Eds head coach Louise Johnson said. “We have been hitting the ball pretty much the same amount every game and have been getting good pitching and good defense every game. But we finally got the hits to fall.”
St. Eds scored in the top of the second inning when Paige Guillory singled over first base and Leah Andrus (1-for-3) ripped a shot down the third base line to push Guillory.
The Lady Jays added two more runs in the top of the third when Brittany Fontenot reached on an error and Anne-Marie Himel (1-for-4) singled to right field.
Mollie Brown (1-for-3) drilled a double to centerfield that plated pinch runner Brooke Fontenot and Himel as the Lady Jays held a 3-0 lead that would hold up the rest of the game.
The Lady Jays had base runners in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings on singles by Guillory (2-for-3), Brittany Fontenot (2-for-4) and two from Ashlyn Daville(2-for-4) but no more insurance runs were added.
Port Barre’s best scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the second inning when the Lady Devils loaded the bases as Leslie Grimmett was hit by a pitch, Hannah Bourgeois reached on an error and Haley Richard advanced on a fielder’s choice bunt.
But the Lady Jay defense stiffened as Sarah Sharkey lined to out second baseman Himel, Olivia Guidry went down on a called third strike and Emily Roberts bunted out to Andrus to leave the bases full.
The Lady Devils put three more on base in the bottom of the fourth when Richard was hit by a pitch, Sharkey reached on a fielder’s choice that forced out Richard, while Guidry was also hit by a pitch.
But Andrus recovered to catch Roberts looking to end the inning with a three-run lead still intact.
Port Barre had one final chance to keep the game alive when Payton Whaley reached on an error, but two infield ground-outs sealed the win for the Lady Jays.
Andrus earned the win as she struck out seven, allowed no hits or walks, but recorded four hitbatsmen.
Courtney Hardy suffered the loss for Port Barre (6-18) as she allowed three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
St. Eds (15-10) closes out the regular season and district play Tuesday at False River in a battle for third place in District 6-1A.
“We need to continue to play our best softball right now,” Johnson said of the finale and a possible run in the playoffs. “We need to get good at-bats together and hopefully win on Tuesday.”