By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Top of the seventh inning, two outs, runners on first and third in a one-run game.
At bat is one of, if not THE best hitter in Rapides Parish, Tioga senior shortstop and Southern Miss signee Abbi Troquille.
In the circle is the parish’s top pitcher, Buckeye senior and Southeastern Louisiana signee Olivia Henry.
Hollywood writers couldn’t have planned the script any better.
Troquille took strike one before looking at two balls and fouling off the fourth pitch for a 2-2 count. She then ripped Henry’s pitch down the third-base line, but Buckeye sophomore Makinley Miller scooped up the ball and fired it to first baseman Rikki Nitz to give the Lady Panthers the 2-1 victory in a battle of the parish’s top two softball teams last Monday.
“Me and Abbi have been playing ball together since we were little kids,” Henry said. “She’s a stud. All credit to her, but I knew that my defense (would) back me up. … We executed, and it was great. It was a very even matchup. I knew it could go either way, but the defense had my back.”
Buckeye coach Justin Kees said the game provided a “playoff atmosphere” and that both teams “gave the fans their money’s worth.”
“We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” Kees said. “(Tioga coach Brad Woodard) wants his all-state shortstop up to bat with two runners on, and I want Liv in the circle. We got what we wanted. We lucked up this time and got the out to end it. We play another game tomorrow, same situation, he might win that one. It might be flipped.”
Tioga took the early lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Zoe Roland that scored Troquille. The Lady Panthers answered back with two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double by freshman shortstop Rosalee Richey and an RBI single by Miller.
Henry scattered six hits and gave up one unearned run with no walks in seven innings, outdueling Tioga senior Christina Lambert, who gave up eight hits and two runs.
Richey and Miller both had two hits and an RBI to lead Buckeye at the plate, while Grace Turlington and Mayghan Brown had two hits apiece for Tioga.
The Lady Indians (23-6) bounced back with five straight wins to finish the week ranked No. 3 in Division I Select with two games remaining in the regular season, against Winnfield on Monday and Neville on Tuesday, both at home.
Buckeye (23-6), the top-ranked team in Division II Select, finished the week 7-0 to run its winning streak to 10 games and will close its regular season at Opelousas Catholic on Tuesday.
SIXTEEN IN A ROW: After starting the season 4-10, the Menard Lady Eagles have ripped off 16 straight wins.
They went 6-0 last week, including an 8-6 come-from-behind victory at Oakdale that wrapped up the District 4-2A championship.
The Lady Eagles (20-10) won four of the games by double digits and finished off the week with a 4-1 victory over Airline on Saturday. They moved up to No. 4 in the Division III Select power ratings and will finish their regular season at Pine Prairie on Monday.
SOFTBALL PLAYOFF BRACKETS: With the end of the softball regular season on Tuesday, the LHSAA will announce matchups in the 10 playoff divisions on Wednesday.
Non-Select brackets will feature 26 teams with the top six seeds getting byes, while Select brackets will feature 24 teams and eight byes, except in Division V, which will have just eight teams.
First-round playoff matchups must be completed by Saturday with second-round and quarterfinal matchups next week and the semifinals and finals being played at Sulphur’s Frasch Park on April 26-27.
Ten parish teams are projected to make the playoffs.
In Division I, Tioga is third with Pineville at No. 6 and Alexandria Senior High eighth.
Buckeye ranks first in Division II, while Peabody is 18th. Menard (No. 4) and Glenmora (20th) are both projected to make the Division III bracket.
Northwood-Lena is ranked No. 21 in Division IV, while Grace Christian is first and Oak Hill is No. 6 in Division V. All teams in Rapides Parish play in the Select divisions.
TROJANS DROP PAIR ON DIAMOND: ASH dropped two games against West Monroe, losing 11-0 and 3-1, in a battle of the top two baseball teams in District 2-5A.
The two losses dropped the Trojans to 14-9 on the season and 6-2 in district play with just over a week remaining in the regular season.
Meanwhile, Buckeye took control of the District 2-3A race with a pair of wins over Caldwell to move to 19-7 overall and 8-0 in district play.
Buckeye beat the Spartans 3-2 and 5-2 before having its 11-game winning streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to Tioga on Friday.
Menard (16-8) moved to 8-0 in District 4-2A and ran its winning streak to 10 games by sweeping Oakdale, 17-0 and 9-4, and beating Tioga (14-9) 7-1.