Lady Terriers advance to quarterfinals, now await Ruston

Take a five-minute stroll through the Vandebilt Catholic softball facility, and it’s impossible to avoid the team’s historical dominance.

Pasted upon the center field wall is all of the countless years the team has won the state championship. Just to the side in right-center field is a similar, but smaller mural with all of the team’s runner-up finishes at the state tournament.

Take a jog into the infield and you see “TRADITION” plastered in bold-face letters on the backstop.

The Lady Terriers may not be done yet.

Thanks to a dominant 5-0 win against St. Louis on Friday, Vandebilt will again end their season in Sulphur and look for yet another state title.

“We’re just so excited,” said pitcher Saidee LeMaire. “We’ve worked so hard all season to go here and to know we’ve finally made it, it’s just the best feeling. I can’t even explain it.”

Vandebilt is the No. 1 seed in the 4A state playoffs, and they take a dominant 26-8 record into the State Quarterfinals.

The strength of the team all season has been dominant pitching or more specifically, LeMaire’s right arm.

The Lady Terriers have 19 shutouts as a team, including two-straight in the playoffs.

Against St. Louis, LeMaire mowed down hitters with a variety of pitches and an assortment of different speeds.

She also made a few catches on defense to add to the frustration of the Saints’ hitters.

“We tried to do some things and make some things happen, but she was stopping us both at the plate and on defense when we’d try to get a little rally going,” said St. Louis coach Kristal Franklin.

Vandebilt coach Margaret Johnson also touted her pitcher’s success and said she looks to be 100 percent following a minor finger injury that hampered her late in the season.

“The ball was moving, and she threw strikes,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t perfect, but hopefully between now and the weekend, we’ll be able to get more of that out of her.”

With the win, Vandebilt will play the No. 8-seed Ruston in Sulphur. That game will take place at noon on Friday at Frasch Park.

If the Lady Terriers advance, they would then move to the coveted Championship Saturday where both the semifinals and finals are played.

In order to have success in the upcoming rounds, Johnson said there are a few aspects of the game her team will need to focus on.

“We’ve got to be able to play seven innings,” she said. “Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. We need good pitching, good defense and timely hitting.”

All of those sound like the basic fundamentals every softball team strives for. But Johnson was quick to add the team needs a little bit of karma, as well.

“A few breaks wouldn’t hurt,” the coach said.

Elsewhere in the Tri-parishes:

Houma Christian loses extra innings thriller

While Vandebilt celebrated their trip to the Quarterfinals, the mood wasn’t as lively just down the road Saturday as Houma Christian was denied a trip to Sulphur in an extra-innings, 9-7 loss to Grand Lake.

The two teams ended regulation play tied at 7 apiece in what was a wild and exciting game, that was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed to the weekend because of rain.

Houma Christian fell behind 5-0 in the opening inning of the game, but fought back to draw the game even.

But Grand Lake plated two runners in the eighth and decisive inning to end the game.

The Lady Warriors threatened in the eighth, but lined into a double play to end the game.

The loss snaps a streak of two-straight seasons that ended in Sulphur for Houma Christian, and it ended the careers of the team’s five seniors – a group Lady Warriors’ pitcher Lauren Crowdus said may go down as one of the best in school history.

“We’ve been together for the past six years,” Crowdus said following the team’s opening-round win. “Sulphur has been our team goal all year, but we know no matter how it turns out, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over our careers.”

E.D. White loses road contest to Albany, 9-2

E.D. White took an early lead, but they weren’t able to hold on Friday as Albany rallied to a 9-2 home win.

The Lady Cardinals were the No. 15-seed in the playoffs and finished they year with a 17-13 record.

The team won their opening round game last Tuesday in a 10-7 victory against Iowa. That win was the first for the team in the postseason since 2004.

Vandebilt shortstop Kristen Kurtz dives safely into second base during the team’s second round win against St. Louis. * Photo by CASEY GISCLAIR