The Hahnville Lady Tigers surprised many last season by finishing district play with a perfect 10-0 mark and locking up the 3rd seed in the state tournament.
Boasting the District 6-5A MVP in pitcher Lauren Candies and the district’s Coach of the Year in Kenneth Vial, it seemed like Hahnville might make a serious run at the state title.
That’s not how it worked out. The Lady Tigers fell to 27th-seeded Denham Springs 2-1 in a eight-inning nail-biter.
But after losing only two seniors, the Lady Tigers are serious contenders once again this year.
Hahnville returns eight starters this season, including Candies, catcher Amye Barre, and infielders Elise deBruler, Courtney Dutreix and Summer Melancon. Center fielder Taylor Webre is also back, as is Hope Mair, who has moved from designated hitter to right field. Destinee Nicholas, who was a starter in 2008 but was hurt last season, starts at third base.
With that much experience, it’s no surprise that Hahnville has surged to an 11-0 record to start the season, which included victories over Terrebonne, Morgan City and Ascension Catholic. Throughout that stretch, Candies has been a major force behind Hahnville’s success, pitching the Tigers to eight of their 11 wins.
“Lauren has picked up right where she left off last year and hasn’t allowed any earned runs,” Vial said. “Her consistency has impressed me the most.”
While the pitching has been on point, Vial said his squad does need to get better at the plate if the team hopes to make another run at the district championship.
“Courtney (Dutreix) and Amy (Barre) have been good, but the others have been inconsistent,” Vial said.
Vial said that district teams will be much better this year than they were in 2009. Overall, he believes that every single team has improved.
“The only benefit of playing in this district is that if you are lucky enough to make the playoffs, you will have seen everything the state has to offer,” Vial said. “From top to bottom, there are no easy wins.”
In fact, Vial thinks that the teams in 6-5A are so good that any of them would be better served by moving to another district.
“The state has not allowed softball to go to the power point system that all the other sports use,” he said. “We still use the system that allows two teams from each district to advance to the playoffs, along with 12 wildcard teams.”
Those wildcard teams are selected from around the state using only a team’s district record as a measuring stick.
“That’s not good news when you play in our district,” he said. “Somebody that is pretty good will be left out.”
To make sure that doesn’t happen to Hahnville, they will have to have a similar run through district play. That all starts today when they battle Destrehan at 4 p.m. at home.
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