It’s rare that a high school student gets a chance to leave a lasting legacy, but every member of the Hahnville Lady Tigers softball team has done just that.
By beating Denham Springs 6-2 in the Class 5A State Championship game on Saturday night, the Lady Tigers captured their first-ever state softball title while also becoming the only girls’ team in the history of the school to win a state championship in any sport.
“As a senior, it felt really good to know that we are leaving a legacy behind,” said star first baseman Elise deBruler. “Now, when we come back to school everyone is going to say, ‘There’s that girl that won the state championship.”
Hahnville faced a tough road to the state title, but made it look easy as they blanked defending champion St. Thomas More 8-0 in the quarterfinals then knocked off No. 1 seed Barbe 3-1 in the semis.
In the championship game against No. 14 seed Denham Springs, the Lady Tigers were in cruise control as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the fourth inning. Hahnville got one of those runs in the third on a double by junior Courtney Dutreix that plated Alexandra Friloux. In the fourth inning, the Lady Tigers exploded for five runs.
The hit parade started with a single by deBruler, who eventually scored on a single by junior Megan Bush. With the bases loaded, Dutreix stepped up and delivered the finishing blow, lining a double down the left field line that brought in three runs.
Dutreix would cross the plate for Hahnville’s sixth and final run after fellow junior Summer Melancon blasted a double.
“I can tell you that when we scored five runs in the fourth inning, my mind starting running on stuff that it shouldn’t have been,” Hahnville head coach Kenneth Vial said. “I’m in the middle of the game and I’m thinking that we’re going to get a ring, but I had to make myself stop it.”
With a 6-0 lead, Vial’s assurance in his team’s victory did make sense. The Lady Tigers have not allowed a team to score seven runs against them in three years.
“With the pitchers that we’ve had here, you might get a couple of runs on us but you’re not going to score that many,” Vial said. “We play great defense, and when the pitcher is throwing as good as Hannah Haydel was, we play incredible defense.”
Haydel allowed only six hits in the championship game and struck out three. She didn’t walk a single batter.
Vial singled out Haydel’s toughness and willingness to compete as a driving factor behind his team’s success.
“During the weekend, Hannah took a rocket shot in the chest. I thought we were going to have to carry her off, but she acted like it wasn’t a big deal and stayed out there,” Vial said. “That says a lot about her desire to compete.”
Defensively, Vial praised his short stop, Melancon, who turned heads with her acrobatic plays in the infield.
“Have you ever seen a better defensive player than Summer? I have not,” Vial said. “She has great composure, great hands and a feel for the game. She makes every play look easy.”
For Hahnville, the state championship capped a year-long revenge tour. Last year, the Lady Tigers advanced to the state title and had a late lead against St. Thomas More before letting the game slip away in a 4-3 loss. Vial said the taste of that defeat was tough to swallow.
“I’d watch championship games in the past and I’d think that I just wanted to be on the field when they brought the trophy out, whether or not we lost. I just wanted to be in the championship game,” he said. “Last year when we lost, I realized that it wasn’t as fun as I thought it was going to be.
“We went back to win.”
The Lady Tigers finished the regular season with a 32-3 record, and though they were co-champs of far and away the toughest district in the state, they were given the No. 4 seed. Hahnville responded by 10-running first-round opponent Terrebonne and then holding on for a 1-0 regional victory against Slidell.
Once they got to Sulphur, they played on another level. That focus was due in large part to the experience the team gained last year.
“You can do anything you want to prepare them for Sulphur, but it doesn’t work,” Vial said. “No one goes there the first time and wins.”
But after getting to the finals last year, the distractions and the noise that come from playing in front of thousands of fans didn’t bother the squad this time around.
“The hoopla around this is a major thing and the teams that handle it win and the teams that don’t lose,” Vial said.
Dutreix, who was named the MVP of the championship game after knocking in four RBIs, agrees.
“The experience we gained last year helped us realize that it was just another softball game, even though it meant a lot more,” she said. “It felt like we were just playing another softball game.”
Leading the way in the experience department were the team’s six seniors, whose hard work and leadership paved the way for the team’s championship season.
“Three of our seniors – Elise deBruler, Taylor Webre and Abby Boutte – start and all of them are extremely productive and they are great leaders and kids you can count on,” Vial said. “Then you have our three other seniors who all made great contributions to our team.”
One of those seniors, Tiara Tellock, may not have had the talent to break into the lineup, but did everything asked of her, Vial said.
“She is a kid who knew she would probably never play on this team, but she accepted that and went out of her way to help us in other ways,” he said. “She took care of the locker room, the dugout and made sure everyone had what they needed.”
And then you have Danielle King and Jade Meyers, who Vial said could have started for 90 percent of the softball teams in the state.
“If you come watch us practice though, you would never know they weren’t starters,” Vial said. “They give 110 percent every practice and do things to make us better. The reason we won the championship was because of the hard work and sacrifice of this senior class.”
While those five players will be missed, the Lady Tigers still return loads of talent next season, including seven of the 10 players that were on the field for the championship game. Because of that, they will be favorites for the 2012 state title.
Vial wouldn’t want it any other way.
“We expect a similar season next year and I know they’re not going to let down. They’ve tasted this and they want it again,” he said. “I enjoy their company and their work ethic and I am proud to stay that I’m their coach and I’m proud that I have been given an opportunity to lead this extraordinary group of kids.”
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