It’s a rocky road to start the season for Destrehan, which won its opener at Tioga but then fell three times at the Pineville tournament.
Destrehan will certainly be hardened by playing on the road over the first month-plus of the season. Of the team’s first 21 games, just three will be at home. But the Wildcats will close the regular season with home dates in nine of their final 11 games.
DHS coach Kenny Montz said the problem at Pineville wasn’t with his players’ effort level, but the team’s consistency.
“We’ve got to learn to play a complete game,” Montz said. “We’re young. We play well in spots, then we get into an inning and make a few mistakes, some errors and let the game get away from us. Against Sulphur, we played really well for six innings. The problem is the game is seven innings long.
“We didn’t get beat because the girls didn’t play hard. We’ve got some things to work on, though.”
Destrehan defeated Tioga 3-2 in the season opener Feb. 25.
The Wildcats fell 5-3 to Sulphur, 10-0 to Alexandria and 8-2 to Cedar Creek at the Pineville tournament.
He said one area he felt good about through four games was the team’s pitching. Ace senior Krista Robles saw most of the action, with junior Carla Beck pitching in the team’s final game of the tournament. Montz said both threw the ball much better than the final scores indicated.
“Both pitched well,” he said. “(DHS opponents) scored some runs but both girls did a real solid job.”
Destrehan (1-3) was scheduled to begin district play this week with a Wednesday home game against Terrebonne (after press time). On Monday, the Wildcats host H.L. Bourgeois, then Tuesday, they travel to Hahnville for a third district contest — and a big rivalry meeting. On Tuesday, it will be a road date at District 7-5A sees its games spread throughout the season, rather than in a cluster at the end of the year.
Montz said it simply means teams must shift into gear sooner.
“It’s a little bit different because usually you have at least another week,” Montz said. “You don’t have as much time so you’ve just got to be ready for it now. District games are always important and we expect to be tested from the start.”
Today, the Wildcats begin play at the Hahnville tournament, which will see them face Chapelle, Belle Chasse and Beau Chene in a trio of matchups.
“We’ve got our work cut out,” Montz said. “Chapelle has a really good pitcher. Belle Chasse is a solid team that wins 20 games every year. Beau Chene is out to a 4-0 start and they won 20 last year. Our focus is on us, playing the way we need to play. These games will make us better and hopefully set us up to peak later in the season.”
Through four games, Taylor Lucich has a home run and four RBIs for the Wildcats. Julie Schuermann has posted a .333 batting average.
On the mound, Robles has gone 1-2 with a 2.43 ERA and 15 strikeouts.
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