Lady Bobcats fall to Live Oak
By Tom Dodge
WATSON - The Eunice Lady Bobcats fell 5-0 to Live Oak in the regional round of the Class 4-A softball playoffs on Saturday.
With the loss, the Lady Cats finished the season with a 16-9-2 record.
"I am very proud of our kids," EHS head coach Scott Deshotel said. We started six sophomores and a freshman against Live Oak and we battled with them.
"You hate to lose," he said of the regional round exit. "But the future is bright and we have some good days coming the next couple of years with our kids."
Live Oak (28-3-1), the 4A runner-up last season, advances to the state tournament for the fifth straight year.
Live Oak scored a run in each of the first two innings and forged ahead 4-0 with a two-run surge in the bottom of the third inning.
The Lady Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Brittany Gonzales (24-3-1) earned the win as she allowed only four hits in the game and recorded 14 strikeouts.
"She was the best pitcher we faced this year," Deshotel said. "She changes speeds well and she has a lot of movement on the ball."
Sophomore Jori Lejeune (12-7-1) suffered the loss as she allowed five runs on eight hits. striking out two and walked one.
"She works very hard at it," Deshotel said of his young pitcher. She is going to be something very special the next couple of years for us."
Camille Faul and Lejeune each went 2-for-3 for the Lady Cats, while Emily Turner was 1-for-3 and Megan McLemore finished 1-for-1.
"We had a couple of chances to score but we just couldn't get that big hit," Deshotel said.
"I am very proud of the year we had and the future of Eunice High softball is very bright."
Deshotel credited his three seniors for the successful Lady Bobcat season.
"I am very proud of them and thankful for the contributions they made and the efforts they gave us."