Lady Trojans, Tigers look to learn from mistakes

Last week’s District 8-5A softball game between the Central Lafourche Lady Trojans and the Thibodaux High Lady Tigers featured two teams simply playing for “pride.”

By the time the final pitch was tossed, the Lady Trojans walked out of Tiger Diamond with a 3-1 win and something to build upon for the future.

It hasn’t been the season Thibodaux coach Wendy Roussell or Central Lafourche coach Alaina Sainz envisioned for their teams, but both hope their teams have learned from it.

The game against the Tigers marked the end of the road for the Lady Trojans this season. They finished 2009 with a 6-18 overall record and 3-8 in district play.

The Tigers, on the other hand, played two more games, concluding their season at home against Houma Christian.

As of press time, they were 11-21 overall with a 5-7 district record and are all but eliminated from playoff contention.

Despite improved records, inconsistent play cost both teams a chance to advance to the playoffs.

“We finally put everything together. It’s just unfortunate that it had to come this late in the season,” Sainz said. “We’ve been lacking the consistency, but the team finally realized their potential and yes, it had to be at the end of the season.”

In their final game, the Lady Trojans were nearly flawless on the field, stranding 17 Tiger runners on base.

For Roussell’s team, leaving runners stranded on base and failing to get timely hits has been a recurring theme.

“We’re inconsistent when it comes to hitting,” she said. “We can’t be inconsistent. We have to be consistent all season long, and we just haven’t done that. That’s what has hurt us.”

But there have been bright spots for the teams on the mound, where Lady Tiger pitcher Dominique Fields and Lady Trojan pitcher Danielle Robichaux have kept solid.

However, failing to execute on defense and provide the pitchers run support hindered both teams’ success.

“We hadn’t been that bad at all on the mound but those inconsistencies in other places are what made the difference,” Roussell noted. “It’s what cost us the season.”

Both coaches describe the season as a learning experience for their young teams.

“If we could have put everything together like we did against Thibodaux, then we would have seen much better results this season,” Sainz admitted. “We have a lot of freshmen who played. These girls now know what their potential truly is going into next season. That can only help us.”

“We want to finish strong, we’re not going to give up. We never have and we never did,” Roussell said. “The only thing we are going to do is play, show up for our final games and just hope for the best. I think the girls learned a lot this season. Not in the way they wanted, but it’s something to correct next season.”