The Loreauville High softball team picked up an important win against District 7-2A rival Catholic High on Thursday, beating the Lady Panthers 20-4.

Loreauville head coach Jude Dugas said games against Catholic High are always fierce, but his team focused on perfecting its own performance.

“You can throw out any record when it comes to that one, both teams are going to be ready to go,” he said. “The message all week was to just work on us and do the things that we have to do. We’ve had a tough schedule early on, and it’s been a little rough, so we wanted to just work on us and play our game. It wasn’t so much about the team in the other dugout as it was about doing the things that we needed to do and playing clean ball.”

Alyssa Soileau pitched all four innings for the Lady Tigers, recording five strikeouts and throwing 88 pitches. Soileau also contributed on offense, scoring three runs in five at-bats. Lexi Mclin (two runs, six RBIs) and Gabby Lopez (three runs, two RBIs) also helped to secure the win.

Dugas said that Soileau played an important role at bat for the Lady Tigers.

“She did great in the circle, she was dialed in,” he said. “I think she struck out five and half of the pitches were strikes, so she was working ahead. Coming out of the leadoff spot and setting the table is very important. You look at the first three in that order and they did a really good job last night setting the table for Lexi.”

Dugas said that having a strong hitter like Mclin at that position in the lineup is important.

“She’s always going to be important because she is a very talented hitter, so whenever she is in a position to drive in runs like she was last night, she does a good job of capitalizing on it,” he said.

The Lady Tigers struggled early in the season, falling to teams like STM, Acadiana and Notre Dame. Dugas said his team is young this season, but coming into form at the perfect time to make a good district run.

“We have a young team, a lot of sophomores and freshmen,” he said. “We only have three seniors on the whole roster, and with that, you take those lumps early on and try to get everybody gelling and get everything figured out. You pair that with a pretty tough schedule and it’s a tough road early on. We’re trying to figure things out as we go and I believe that this team is starting to gel at the right time.”

Loreauville will play in the Acadiana High tournament over the weekend, facing top opposition from around the state.

“We have a tough weekend ahead at the Acadiana tournament,” he said. “We have defending 3A runner up, Iowa, tonight in Youngsville. Tomorrow we go back to Broussard and face the defending Class B champ, Holden, and we finish the day with St. Edmunds. It’s going to be a tough, competitive weekend but we’re looking forward to it. Those are the kind of games that will prepare you for April when playoff time comes around.”