Lady Pios wrap up 5-AAA title

CROWLEY – There will be no sharing this year.

The Notre Dame Lady Pios, who finished the 2007 season as District 5-AAA co-champions with Rayne and Cecilia, have the league title all to themselves this year after an 11-1 mercy-rule victory over cross-town rival Crowley High Monday at Fats Leger Memorial Field.

The victory boosts the Lady Pios’ record to 17-7 on the year and 7-0 in district play with one league game remaining. Crowley fell to 11-12 and 3-4.

“We didn’t want to share it (district title) and we didn’t want to split it with anybody,” said Notre Dame coach Lance Reed after the victory. “After last year, that was one of our goals. We felt like if we played like we were capable of playing, we could win the district and these girls continued to play together and bond together all year. It’s amazing how far this group has come. We’ve gone from a bunch of individuals to a well-gelled team.”

The team concept showed Monday as six Lady Pios hit safely in the six-inning victory.

Anna Brown led the charge, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run. She also drove in four runs from the nine-hole spot.

“Anna Brown is something special,” said Reed of his freshman outfielder. “She is physically and mentally tough. She is one of our clutch hitters and a lot of her power comes from the hard work that she puts in on the field and in the weight room.”

Amelia Lavergne was also key in the victory. The freshman hurler gave up just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out two.

“Amelia is only a freshman but she pitches like she’s an upperclassman,” said Reed. “She doesn’t get nervous and she pitches well in tough spots.”

Lavergne was in a tough spot in the first inning when Crowley had runners at second and third with one out.

However, Lavergne never got rattled. Instead, she coaxed Crowley’s cleanup hitter into an infield fly out before sitting Tiffany Trahan down on strikes to end the threat.

“We didn’t come through with runners on today,” said Crowley coach Brian Gary. “Our bats weren’t there. We just really didn’t play well today. We didn’t play anything like we’ve played over the last 10 games.”

Crowley also led off the fourth with back-to-back hits. But two flyouts followed before the third out occurred on a steal attempt.

Errors also proved costly for the Ladies. They committed two errors which led to five unearned runs.

“They (Notre Dame) made the plays and we didn’t,” said Gary. “We made a few errors in key spots that allowed them to push a few runs across that shouldn’t have been. That opened up the door for them.”

The door was wide open in the sixth and the Lady Pios took full advantage.

Leading 6-1, Notre Dame’s Becca Guidry drew a leadoff walk. Brown followed by nailing the first pitch she saw deep over the left field wall for a two-run blast. Alex Boulet then reached base on a bunt single and scored on Crowley’s third error of the game.

Brittney Larriviere ended the game with a run-scoring double to center.

Crowley’s lone run crossed the plate in the top of the sixth when Loralyn Huval singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Amy Abhsire.

Celes Weekley led the Ladies with a 2-for-2 performance that included a double to the wall in left. Huval, Shelbee Hoffpauir and Abshire each had one hit.

Trahan suffered the loss for the Ladies. The senior went six innings, giving up 11 runs on 12 hits and four walks. She struck out two.

For Notre Dame, Boulet and Larriviere followed Brown with two hits and one RBI each and Taylor Simon and Leah Broussard each had two singles. Kelsey Brown had one hit and one RBI.

The Ladies will be in action again Thursday when they play host to Northwest at 4 p.m.

“We have to take care of business Thursday and hopefully 4-4 in district play gets us into the playoffs,” said Gary. “That’s one of the goals that we set at the beginning of the season. You know, if you can’t win the district championship, try to get in (playoffs). Hopefully we can win Thursday and the girls have done enough to get in.”

Notre Dame will try to make it a clean sweep in district play Thursday when the Lady Pios travel to Church Point for a 4 p.m. contest