Thursday evening was a good night to be a Loreauville fan. 

Both the baseball and softball teams were victorious in their respective first round playoff matchups, advancing to the Division III Non-Select regional rounds in convincing fashion. 

The baseball team got the upper hand on Wednesday when they hosted No. 19 seed Port Allen (18-9) in a best-of-three contest. 

The Tigers entered the playoffs with a 14-17 record, going winless in their last three games to close out the regular season. It didn’t seem to bother Loreauville much, however, as they closed out a 10-run win in six innings to take the lead in the series. 

Senior Dylan Navarre recorded six strikeouts while only allowing one hit, capping off a strong defensive showing that continued into Thursday night’s contest.

The second game of the series saw a slower start from the Tigers, who fell behind 4-3 in the second inning before outsourcing Port Allen 10-0 in the following two innings. The duo of senior pitcher John Munnerlyn and junior Austen Guilbeau combined for 10 strikeouts over five innings to secure a second mercy-rule win. 

The Tigers can lay the blame for the slow start on a change in routine this week as Loreauville observed the Easter break with a week off of class. For head coach Jamar Lewis, trying to keep some kind of routine going was key to finding success in the postseason. 

“Most athletes like routine, and now we’re in a situation where we are one of the only districts that are off of school, so it gets them out of their routine,” Lewis said. “We tried to do some things as normally as possible to keep them in the same habits so we can maintain the same level of focus and intensity. We always want to play for the name on the front of our jerseys, regardless of who we are playing.”

Who Loreauville plays has been a factor in getting the team ready for the playoffs this year. Despite having 10 seniors on the roster, almost half of them are starters for the first time. Lewis said that, while the team might not have as much personal experience to draw on as some of the others in the bracket, his players have seen what champions look like. 

“Four of them are first-time starters, but all of them have played before so this isn’t novel to them,” he said. “That’s almost half of the team in baseball, so that plays a part. They do have experience being around the program and knowing what our expectations are. They’ve seen last year’s state champion, the year before’s state champion, and the year before’s too in multiple classes. We haven’t played a season in the past six years where we haven’t played at least one state champion, so they know what good baseball is and they have that experience to draw on the things they’ve seen.”

The wins will advance the Tigers to a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals as Loreauville travels to South Beauregard to face the defending Division III state champions. Last year, Loreauville lost their first two games against South Beau after defeating North Webster in the opening round and upsetting Rosepine in three games in the regional round. 

This year, Lewis isn’t mincing words when it comes to how his team can pull off the upset. 

“Score more runs than them,” Lewis said when asked about the key to victory. “It’s that simple. They’re the No. 3 seed because they’re a good team. They’ve won a title, so they’re a team that shows up every day and expects to win. We have that same expectation, so we aren’t going to kowtow to them, we’re going to give them our best.” 

Across the park, the Lady Tigers were also taking care of business in their playoff opener against No. 20 seed Springfield. 

After going run-for-run through the first inning, Loreauville managed to take a 5-4 lead in the second inning and never looked back. Senior Lexi McLin sent two balls out of the park before being walked for the rest of the night, ending the game with three RBIs. Victoria Broome added a home run of her own in the third inning, bringing her RBI total for the night to four. 

Despite the eventual 15-5 win, things weren’t all smooth sailing for the Lady Tigers. Defensive struggles in the fifth inning allowed Springfield to add one run and load the bases before freshman pitcher Meagan Segura was able to get a crucial strikeout to end the Lady Bulldogs’ comeback dreams. Loreauville added seven more runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the mercy-rule win, a promising change from the mental fragility the team displayed earlier in the season. 

“That fifth inning earlier this year, we would’ve allowed that to turn into a much bigger inning than it was,” said Loreauville head coach Jude Dugas. “It isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish, so credit to them and their growth. To fight out of that, especially with a freshman pitcher, is big.”

The win kept Loreauville’s playoff dreams alive, but the next game against No. 4 seed Sterlington will require another strong performance, both physically and mentally.  

Luckily for Dugas, his team has faced off against some heavy hitters already this season. 

“When we played Hahnville in the STM tournament, they were undefeated and the No. 1 team in Class 5A, so I just told my girls ‘let’s go compete,’” he said. “We were up on them 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh (inning) and, even though it ended up getting away from us, that’s the mentality we want to have. We’re not going to be afraid of you just because your name is Sterlington. We’re going up there to compete.”

No. 20 Catholic High School 9, No. 13 University Lab 7

The Lady Panthers retained their spot in the Division III Select playoffs with an upset win over 13th-seeded University Lab on Thursday, defeating the Lady Cubs 9-7 despite giving up five runs in the seventh inning. 

A big third inning gave CHS a 5-2 lead behind a triple from Helena Dronet, a double from Esmee Duhon and singles from Grace Hulin and Ava Burgess. 

Pitcher Addisyn Derouen recorded four strikeouts through six innings before being replaced by Grace Hulin to close out the game. 

The Lady Panthers will hit the road again for the regional matchup against No. 4 seed Parkview Baptist (20-12) next week. First pitch is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22 and 5 p.m. at Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge.