Lady Warriors fall to repeat champions

By the start of Saturday’s Class B state softball championship game, Houma Christian already had one comeback victory that day in the semifinals.

Unfortunately, the Lady Warriors failed to muster a second rally, falling 3-0 to defending state champions Oak Hill at the Fastpitch 56 tournament in Sulphur’s Frasch Park.

Passed balls, lack of timely hitting and overzealous base running combined to defeat fifth-seeded Houma Christian in the title game.

“I felt our girls fought hard in every single inning, but we just couldn’t get the hit with runners on base,” said Houma Christian coach Christi Crowdus. “Oak Hill hit the ball well with runners in scoring position.”

Houma Christian (20-8) stranded four runners on base in the game.

The Lady Warriors’ best scoring opportunity came in the top of the fourth. Lauren Crowdus led off the inning with a double. After she stole third on a passed ball, the next three Houma Christian batters went down on a strikeout and two pop outs.

Third-seeded Oak Hill (27-11) scored one run each in the first, fifth and sixth innings.

A pair of errant pitches from Crowdus allowed Oak Hill’s Courtney Ivey to advance from second to third and then home to give the Lady Rams a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

“I didn’t have enough time to warm up. I had the jitters knowing this is a big game – just a little nervous,” Crowdus admitted.

Crowdus and the Lady Warriors settled down and played tougher defensively. However, RBI singles by Oak Hill’s Amber Jarrell in the fifth and Sarah Taylor in the sixth put the game out of reach.

“We wanted to play solid defense and needed Lauren to hit her spots,” Christi Crowdus said. “She didn’t do a bad job pitching. Oak Hill just has a great hitting team. We knew they had power hitters coming in.”

With the support of about 50 Houma Christian supporters cheering them on, the Lady Warriors made one last rally attempt in the seventh. After an infield single by Courtney Collie, the game ended on a strikeout of Grace Trosclair and Collie was picked off at second base.

The title game was similar to Houma Christian’s 4-2 semifinal victory over the top-seeded Foster Lady Bulldogs earlier that day.

Entering the bottom of the fifth, Houma Christian trailed 2-0 and had stranded eight runners on base.

The Lady Warriors had a breakthrough in that inning. An RBI sacrifice bunt by LaGreca, a two-run single from Emily Albares and an RBI single by Brooke Allemand generated all four runs in the win.

“It was a very close game, but we were determined not to lose,” LaGreca said.

“We had some timely hits that got us the victory,” Christi Crowdus said. “It was an awesome game. I wish some of that would have carried over against Oak Hill.”

The coach said she was proud of the attitude and work ethic that got her team to Sulphur for the second straight year. This also marked Houma Christian’s first appearance in a championship game in any sport, the prospect of which looked unlikely earlier in the season.

“We started really slow and weren’t playing together as a team,” Lauren Crowdus said. “We were self-centered. Whenever things went bad, we would just give up. By the end of the season, we said we have to play together as a team because the games were getting tougher.”

Christi Crowdus, who has been at Houma Christian for 14 years, has seen the softball team come a long way from its beginnings in the Louisiana Christian School Athletic Association to joining the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) in 2004.

“When we played in the Christian league, if we played 12 games (a year), that was a lot,” Christi Crowdus said. “We were competitive, but nowhere like we are today. We have athletes that could play at other schools. I think we’re a team our city and school can be proud of.”

Houma Christian’s Emily Alberas looks on as teammate Shira LaGreca tags out Oak Hill’s Sarah Taylor (3) at second base in the Class B championship game. Oak Hill would go on to beat the Lady Warriors 3-0. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF