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April 8, 2014
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April 8, 2014
The Ellender softball team hasn’t had a lot of playoff success over the years.
The Lady Patriots are hoping to change that this season after getting off to one of the program’s best starts in many years.
Ellender entered the week at 18-7 overall and 3-3 in district play after defeating area rival H.L. Bourgeois, 3-1, over the weekend. Dating back to March 27, the Lady Patriots have won six of their last seven games.
For a team that hasn’t finished with a winning record in several years, their hot play this season has been a welcoming change. So what’s different about the Lady Patriots this year?
According to coach Janie Trosclair, it’s all a matter of effort and experience.
“We’ve got some young kids whose experience is finally starting to come through,” Trosclair said. “They started as freshmen, and a lot of them are juniors now. We’ve always had a young team here. We’re starting to get older now and they’ve listened and learned and gotten hungrier every year.”
The team’s record in district play hasn’t been quite what they’d prefer, with Ellender stumbling against Assumption in a 5-2 loss late last week, and to Vandebilt Catholic, 8-0, back on March 25.
At the same time, the team hasn’t relied on softer opponents to fatten its record. The Lady Patriots beat a perennially tough E.D. White Catholic team earlier this season, plus a tough 4A school in Ursuline at the Lutcher Tournament back last month.
They also beat a strong Class 2A school in Fisher (14-4 entering the week) at another tournament last month.
“We’ve beat some good teams,” Trosclair said. “Even the games we lost were close besides the Vandebilt game, where we just had a meltdown and didn’t show up for that game. Our district is always tough. Anybody can beat anybody in this district.”
In the circle, Ellender has an ace pitcher in junior Alyssa Bush, who is approaching 200 strikeouts this season after fanning 211 batters a year ago.
Bush is the Lady Patriots’ primary pitcher, though freshman Morgan Pitre has also logged some innings.
But in clutch time, Bush is always the team’s most reliable arm, and during a recent five-game Ellender winning streak, she tossed complete game victories in all five games, including three shutouts.
“The reason for our good play is the dedication and the hard work, coming to practice every day, fighting and just being here 100 percent and giving it our all,” said Bush. “Our goal is to at least get to State (playoffs) this year.”
Senior shortstop Kyler Trosclair agreed that the team’s hard work has paid dividends.
“It’s a whole team effort this year,” Kyler Trosclair said. “Everybody is doing their part and knows their role, and they get that job done.”
The Lady Patriots feature a lineup that doesn’t boast many weaknesses. The team has plenty of useful weapons with the bat, including Trosclair, who last fall committed to play college ball for the University of Memphis.
Kyler Trosclair said that because of her college commitment, she’s felt more pressure this year than in past seasons, but that it hasn’t affected her play.
“I’m trying to just make this year as fun as possible and be a team player,” she said. “I’ve had excellent stats from my freshman year to junior year. I feel like there’s a certain standard I have to perform to so there is a lot of pressure I’m putting on myself.”
Elsewhere in the lineup, sophomore second baseman Brianna Bourg began the year hitting toward the middle and bottom part of the Lady Patriots’ lineup but has since worked her way into the cleanup spot and become a clutch run-producer.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Moore has developed into a nice threat with the bat as well after having to learn to play third base last season.
“She takes a lot of cuts, she stays after practice, she hits when she’s not supposed to hit, and she works hard. She wants to be a good hitter,” Trosclair said of Moore. “Until last year she had never played third base in her life, but I made her play the whole season. She (struggled) last year, but she learned the game and learned how to get better, and now she’s a solid third baseman.”
Ellender boasts four traditional slap hitters in its lineup.
Kyler Trosclair and junior outfielder Courtney Dardar are experienced upperclassmen, while newcomers Pitre and Annie Robinson are developing nicely.
“We’ve got a solid infield, our outfield is solid and we’re playing well,” Trosclair said.
Ellender returns to district action Thursday against Vandebilt.
Ellender standouts (from left) Alyssa Bush, Kyler Trosclair and Kaitlyn Moore pose after a win. Ellender is 18-7 so far this season.
