Lady Panthers advance to regional round

Usually when a team comes into the playoffs as a number 19 seed, that team is thought of as a middle of the road type of softball squad. Tell that to the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers and they would strongly disagree. Pine Prairie may be a number 19 seed in the 2015 LHSAA softball playoffs, but surely does not play like it on the field. Instead, the Lady Panthers will test an opponent just like a top five seed would. Pine Prairie showed that attitude on Tuesday, as they upended the number 14 seeded Jena Lady Giants 13-6 to advance to the regional round of play.
The first two innings did not bode well for the Lady Panthers. After blanking Pine Prairie in their first at bat, the Lady Giants plated a run in the bottom of the first. The Lady Panthers answered in the top of the second when Macy Harvey scored to tie the game at 1-1. Jena took back the lead in the bottom of the second, adding another run to go up 2-1.
Like any true contender, Pine Prairie kicked into a higher gear on offense. The Lady Panthers manufactured four runs in the top of the third, using a single, a double and a Sabrina Fontenot home run to push ahead of Jena 5-2. The Lady Giants did record a run in the bottom of the third to cut the Pine Prairie advantage down to two runs.
The Lady Panthers dealt another blow to Jena in the top of the fourth. Pine Prairie once again lit up Lady Giant pitching, scoring four more runs on five hits to pull ahead 9-3. In a last ditch effort to keep themselves in the game, Jena responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 9-6. However, the effort fell way short, as the Lady Panthers widened the lead, scoring three more runs in the fifth and a single run in the seventh. The Lady Giants could not keep pace, as Pine Prairie stymied the Jena offense the rest of the contest, blanking the home team in the last three innings to seal the victory.
In the game, Julia Chaddrick led all Pine Prairie hitters, going three for five. Shaina Boutte went two for four for the Lady Panthers. Alexis Hammond picked up the win on the mound for Pine Prairie. Hammond threw seven complete innings, allowing six runs on four hits, while striking out one. The Lady Panthers will now travel to Kaplan to take on the number three seeded Lady Pirates. As of press time the date and time of the game had not been set.