Lady Panthers slip by Lady K’s in quarters

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 19:24

By: LANCE REED

Sports Editor

The Pine Prairie Ladies earned a chance to play in the Class 2A semi-finals when they defeated their playoff rivals, South Beauregard. In front of over 1,000 people, the Lady Panthers pulled a 5-4 victory and gave their fans something to go crazy over. It was the third time in four years, the Lady Panthers and the Lady Knights met each other in the playoffs, and the second time at Frash Park in Sulphur.

Pine Prairie jumped out on top in the first inning. With two outs, senior shortstop Alex Deville laced a triple. A few pitches later, Ashley Marcantel delivered a single to put the Lady Panthers on top.

Within a few moments, the Lady Panthers were back at the plate. This time they really let the South Beauregard pitcher have it. Courtney Townsend got things going with a leadoff single. Madison Murray walked behind her and Chelsea West bunted her way on base. Kayla Johnson dropped a single into the outfield to score Townsend. Then Deville came back to the plate. She crushed a shot into the outfield gap for a base-clearing double. Pine Prairie was on top 5-0 and seemed to be on top of the momentum.

South Beauregard came rolling back with fire. The Lady Knights took advantage of two walks and two errors to get runners on the move. A double pushed a few more runs across the plate. Before anyone knew it, the Lady Knights had turned the contest back into a game and made it 5-3.

South Beauregard would plate one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning. However, the PPHS defense pulled together and held on for a one-run victory. The quarter-final win put Pine Prairie against Pope John Paul yesterday morning at 11 a.m. However, the threat of rain was making it a possibility the tournament would have to be moved to today. A victory against PJP would put the Lady Panthers back in the Class 2A finals.

Chelsey Fontenot got the win the circle. She went all seven innings, fanning six batters and scattering five hits. Alex Deville finished the day with a 2-4 performance, including a triple, a double and three runs batted in. Ashley Marcantel was 2-4 at the plate, as well with a double and an RBI.