Hahnville’s softball season came to an end after a challenging matchup with powerful St. Amant, which rode a combined nine RBIs and three home runs by Abby McKey and Kourtney Gremillion to a 12-5 victory Saturday afternoon. St. Amant (25-5), the No. 7 seed in Class 5A, advanced to the state softball tournament in Sulphur for a quarterfinal matchup with Zachary Friday. The win over Hahnville was St. Amant’s 21st consecutive win.
Abby McKey went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs. Kourtney Gremillion, a Louisiana-Lafayette commitment, was 2-for-3 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Hahnville coach Jerry Nugent said that he knew his tenth-seeded team had a tough draw against the No. 7 seed Gators, who defeated the Tigers earlier this season 18-5 at Hahnville.
Ultimately, he believed Hahnville’s failure to keep the bases clear when McKey and Gremillion, St. Amant’s three and four-hole hitters was one of two major deciding factors, while Hahnville (23-8) stranding eight runners on base was another.
“Those two hitters are very tough, and it seemed like every time they came up, there were runners on,” Nugent said. “We had some chances, especially early, to score some runs ourselves. We had three runners on in each of the first two innings and getting it done there would have helped us generate some momentum.
“We knew against that team, they’re capable of putting up runs and you can’t waste opportunities.”
The Tigers finished with 10 hits, including a three-run home run by Pryscilla Prince in the fourth inning that pulled Hahnville within one run, 5-4.
Gremillion earned the win on the mound for St. Amant.
It was a tale of two completely different style games over Hahnville’s two rounds, as the Tigers took the win in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel against Chapelle earlier in the week.
“(The contrast in styles) is what we knew we were in for,” Nugent said. “That’s just the nature of 5A this year. We had a tough draw, but there were no easy matchups for anyone, even in round one.”
The Tigers will lose five seniors, two of them starters, going into next season: Maeson Martindale, Kelly Ortego, Madison Fremen, Allison Arabie and Kaleigh Melancon.
“We’ve got a lot of girls coming back and we’re excited about it,” Nugent said. “At the same time, the ones we’re losing, it’s tough, more so because they’re good, wonderful people and we’ll miss them. They’re going to go on and do some great things.”
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