After leading throughout the game, the Lady Tigers couldn’t hold on down the stretch as they fell 4-3 to St. Thomas More in Hahnville’s first-ever state championship appearance.
“How could any coach ask any more from a team?” Hahnville head coach Kenny Vial said. “We left it on the field…every ounce of effort and care is still on that field.”
Hahnville was in control for much of the game, holding STM scoreless through the first three innings. The Lady Tigers got on the board in the second inning when third baseman Destinee Nicholas drove in Abby Boutte by smashing a double to left field. Nicholas finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for the game. Hahnville added another run to go up 2-0 in the third inning when Courtney Dutreix scored on a passed ball.
Megan McCollum helped STM get back into the game in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single, making the score 2-1. The Lady Tigers would respond in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI double by Amye Barre.
STM tied the game in the top of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kaitlyn Culotta and an RBI double by Rachel Mouton.
After the game was tied, Vial pulled starter Lauren Candies in favor of sophomore Hannah Haydel.
Haydel got two outs to end the sixth.
With one out in the seventh inning, STM’s Morgan Tauzin singled to left field and went to third on a groundout by Sara Arceneaux. McCollum knocked her in with a single for what proved to be the winning run after the Tigers were retired in order by STM pitcher Prophet Gaspar in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“The difference in the game was Prophet Gaspar,” Vial said. “She is a great competitor and going into the game I didn’t know how many runs we could get. I told my wife before the game that we had to win 1-0 and we were prepared to do that.”
Though the Lady Tigers lost, Vial said that getting to the state championship game put his team on the map.
“Last year we got on the radar, but now we are on the map,” he said. “(STM) was the defending champion and Prophet had only given up one run in the last 125 innings. They had seven returning starters and they were supposed to win.
“Our plan was to weather every storm, look them in the eye and keep plugging. We didn’t lose, they beat us.”
Hahnville made it to the state championship game after beating Barbe, who took an early 2-0 lead on a home run by Sara Corbello in the first inning. The Lady Tigers scored four runs in the second inning, then held on for a 6-4 victory.
“After beating Barbe, this group felt like they could change the world,” Vial said. “If we would have been playing the olympic team, I would have bet on us and we gave an olympic effort in the finals.
“It hurts to lose, but it is good to reflect on the positives.”
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