Pink shines for Hahnville baseball
By Joe Paul
As the 6-5A district leading Hahnville softball team huddled in shallow left field after a 7-0 shutout against Higgins Saturday, head coach Kenneth Vial stressed the importance of wanting to win each game.
If the past week was any indication, the Lady Tigers (16-3-1, 4-0 6-5A) have plenty of desire.
Hahnville hosted a three-game home stand last week where they defeated district foes Dutchtown, 1-0, and East St. John, 11-0 and capped off the week with the Higgins shutout.
“We hit the ball today, pitched well, made a couple of miscues on defense but overall, we made things happen offensively,” Vial said. “We’ve been winning the past two weeks, but we haven’t been scoring.”
The Lady Tigers pounded out 12 hits against Higgins, scoring once in the first, second and third innings before a four-run fifth put the game away. Senior Lauren Candies (13-2) pitched five shutout innings, striking out eight. Freshman Hannah Haydel pitched two innings in relief, fanning four.
Last Tuesday, offense was in short supply as senior Jessica Cancienne’s leadoff home run gave the Lady Tigers just enough for a 1-0 victory. Sophomore Elise Debruler also doubled in the first but was left stranded on third. Those were the only two Hahnville hits.
While the offense struggled, Candies dominated on the mound allowing just two hits and one walk in seven innings. She struck out six and only allowed two Dutchtown runners to get in scoring position.
Thursday, the Lady Tigers took advantage of several defensive miscues for an 11-0, five inning win against a young East St. John team. Cancienne had three hits, a walk and two RBIs to lead the offense. Senior Jia Bridges also had two hits and two RBIs while Candies pitched four scoreless innings. Haydel hurled a scoreless fifth.
Hahnville ended the first round of district play Tuesday at St. Amant (19-1) and will travel to Destrehan today at 4 p.m. The Lady Tigers will host Mount Carmel Saturday at 11 a.m.
“There are no easy games in this district,” Vial said. “You could play great, and someone will beat you playing better. It is just the way it is.”
Baseball
Wearing pink baseball caps with a black “H” on the front, the Hahnville baseball team watched as five women took the field to throw out the first pitch of Tuesday’s “Strike Out Breast Cancer” game against St. Charles.
The team sold T-Shirts and pink bracelets to help raise money benefitting Relay for Life. The cause is near and dear to not only those women but several players and coaches.
“It hits very close to home for me because I had a grandmother that I lost to cancer,” Hahnville head coach Kade Rogers said. “Two of players have moms who are going through it, and one of them is in remission. It is something that teaches the kids there is more to life than just baseball.”
The Tigers struggled last week losing three of four contests. Last Tuesday, Hahnville dropped an eight-inning contest to Mandeville 6-5.
Junior Britten Lanaux suffered the loss while sophomore Jared Harrell scored twice and senior John Gomez belted a solo home run.
The Tigers bounced back against Holy Cross Friday with a 9-3 victory. Senior Justin Zoglio got the win going six innings, striking out six and allowing three runs, all unearned.
Senior Brandon Young led the Tigers offensively scoring three times. Hahnville scored at least one run in every inning except the fourth.
Saturday, Hahnville (10-7) was shelled by Brother Martin 14-3 and dropped a slugfest to Jesuit 13-9 Sunday.
“We came out flat against Brother Martin. They’re a good ballclub, and they take advantage of their opportunities. We started to take advantage of our opportunities late against Jesuit, but we can’t afford to fall behind,” Rogers said.
“We had a team meeting Monday at practice about some of the things we need to do differently going into the final 16 games.”
With the 6-5A district opener scheduled for today at 4 p.m., weather permitting, against Destrehan, the Tigers are suffering through the injury bug as three or four fielders are playing out of position, but Rogers said his players still are playing hard and “willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
“It is always a fun atmosphere to be a part of. We’ll be playing here so everyone is pumped up. I just told the kids to play with emotion but don’t show emotion,” he said about today’s game.
The Tigers are scheduled to travel to East Ascension for a 2 p.m. Saturday contest and will host Dutchtown at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
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