There was hugging, high fives and heartbreak for Rapides Parish teams in the quarterfinal round of the LHSAA softball postseason.
Buckeye, Tioga and Grace Christian have advanced to the semifinals in Sulphur coming up Friday.
ASH, Menard and Pineville bowed out with losses in their quarterfinal games last Saturday.
Buckeye and Tioga claimed one-run thrillers. Grace Christian had already punched its ticket with a 17-2 romp over Family Christian on April 14.
Buckeye, seeded No. 1 in Select Division II, held off visiting E.D. White 3-2 Saturday. The Lady Panthers play Friday at noon on Field 15 in Sulphur against No. 4 David Thibodaux, which edged De La Salle 7-6 in that quarterfinal.
Tioga took a 4-3 thriller over visiting Acadiana. That earned the No. 2 Lady Indians a Friday 2:30 matchup with No. 3 John Curtis, also on Field 15, in the Select Division I semifinals.
Curtis blanked sixth-seeded ASH 7-0 on Saturday in Metairie.
No. 4 Pineville lost at home in heartbreaking fashion when Archbishop Chapelle cracked a seventh-inning grand slam to break a 2-2 tie, and the Lady Rebels couldn’t answer in the bottom of the inning Saturday.
Something was going to give when ninth-seeded Menard played host to No. 1-ranked Calvary Baptist. The Lady Eagles had a streak of eight consecutive trips to Sulphur for the state tournament. Calvary has won two straight state championships.
The visiting Lady Cavaliers looked every bit the part of champions, taking down Menard 14-1.
Idle last week, Grace Christian comes to Sulphur as the No. 2 seed in Select Division V and will play No. 3 St. Joseph’s of Plaucheville Friday at noon on Field 17.
State championship games are set for Saturday.
