Buckeye eliminates Crowley

BUCKEYE – The Crowley Ladies were on the verge of the biggest upset in the Class AAA softball playoffs Tuesday.

The Ladies, seeded 25th in the field of 32, had No. 8 seed Buckeye on the ropes for the first three innings.

Unfortunately for the Ladies, the Lady Panthers scored three unanswered runs in the final four innings to hold on for a 3-2 first-round playoff victory and thwart CHS’ upset hopes.

“We knew it was a Herculean task to come to their home and defeat them - they’ve won so many ballgames this season,” said Crowley coach Brian Gary, whose team finished the year at 14-13.

“Our kids just said they were going to leave it all on the field and that’s exactly what they did. We came up one mistake and one hit short of a win. We have nothing to hang our heads on. We had a great season.”

Crowley took a 2-0 lead after three innings of play before Buckeye rallied for two runs in the fourth on three hits and one CHS error.

With runners on second and third and two outs, Buckeye’s Kara Simmons singled to right to plate Kayla Tobey. Tiffany Deville then scored when the ball got past Crowley’s right fielder and rolled to the wall. Simmons advanced to third on the error.

However, Crowley pitcher Tiffany Trahan got Carley Richardson to ground out to third to avoid further damage.

Buckeye pushed across the eventual game-winner in the fifth when Jessica Taylor doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Lynsie Nugent. Lacie Nugent then grounded out to first, allowing her sister, Lynsie, to score.

“We’ve been that way lately,” said Buckeye coach Darlene Wiley of her team’s slow start (just one hit in the first three innings). “We hit the ball well when we did put it in play, but you have to give Crowley credit, they played a heck of a defensive game. Some of those balls they were catching in the outfield have been falling for us this year. In this ball game, they kept us down as for as our runs.”

Buckeye’s only hit in the first three innings was a one-out double by Kayce Everett in the first inning. That scoring threat was thwarted on the very next play when Tobey flew out to Loralyn Huval, who in turn, fired a strike from the centerfield wall to third base to gun down Everett who was attempting to tag up on the play.

Crowley’s offense was hot early on before sputtering in the final four innings. The Ladies had four hits in the first three frames before posting just one the rest of the game.

“Even down 3-2, I thought we still had a chance,” said Gary. “Their pitcher just stepped up, made her pitches and got us to ground out. But all in all, looking at her record and her ERA, I thought we did a pretty good job against a very good pitcher. We did everything we could, we just fell a run short.”

Shelbee Hoffpauir and Celes Weekley each had a single and an RBI in the loss. Huval had a triple and Mandy Burke and Amanda Istre each singled.