As No. 10 seeded Hahnville prepares to host No. 23 Chapelle in the Tigers’ postseason opener Tuesday (first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m., Hahnville coach Jerry Nugent is pleased with how his team has played down the stretch, especially given how the Tigers have dealt with a smattering of injuries along the way.
He said that fingers are crossed that HHS will be operating at close to full strength when it opens the postseason, with the expectation of at least a handful of players returning from general wear and tear.
Since falling to Destrehan 5-4 on March 31, Hahnville has gone 7-1, besting fellow perennial contenders like Riverside and Vandebilt Catholic along the way. The Tigers have split the District 7-5A championship with Destrehan—the teams were slated to play a one-game tiebreaker to determine who receives the district championship power point—and HHS is likely to finish with a top 10 seed and a home playoff game in round one.
“I feel like we’ve responded well (since the Destrehan game) over the past couple of weeks,” Nugent said. “We’ve been aiming at getting to the point where we’re playing our best ball by next week’s postseason opener. We’re optimistic we’ll be at or close to full strength, but we also have a deep team. We’ve been able to manage through a few setbacks.”
The Tigers’ bats have truly come alive of late. In one four game stretch — a pair of wins at East St. John and home wins over Terrebonne and Thibodaux — Hahnville scored a total of 63 runs.
On the season, Hahnville (22-7, 11-1) has hit 24 home runs and driven in 240 runs.
“We’ve got a strong hitting team,” Nugent said. “That’s been pretty consistent all season long for us.”
Karly Taranto’s sixth inning RBI single scored Allison Plaisance and netted Hahnville the eventual game-winning run in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Catholic-New Iberia.
Pryscilla Prince hit a home run, while Maeson Martindale and Jourdyn Hogan each went 3-for-3.
Taranto went the complete game, allowing four hits and no earned runs. She struck out eight and walked four.
On Friday, Calvary Baptist scored four runs in the sixth inning to break open a one-run game, leading to a 7-2 Eagles victory.
Prince went 2-for-3. Madison LeBlanc drove in a run.
Taranto allowed two earned runs and seven total runs on 10 hits. She struck out two and walked two.
On Thursday, the Tigers wrapped up District 7-5A play with a 10-3 victory over Thibodaux.
Sarah VanEtta went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Kamryn Keller went 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Martindale went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Taranto earned the win, going six innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits and a walk. She struck out seven.
Two things that have helped Hahnville weather the stretch of injuries is its depth, as Nugent noted, and the versatility of its players. A number of Tigers have shifted from the outfield to the infield and vice versa due to needs at a particular time.
Danielle Duplay shifted from the outfield to second base and Nugent called her level of play at the position “unbelievable.” Keller shifted to catcher in place of an injured LeBlanc in the Destrehan game and did a strong job, while Pryscilla Prince held down third base for a game after Martindale, the team’s usual third baseman, was forced out after being hit by a pitch.
Meanwhile, Plaisance and Madison Fremen both entered the game cold off the bench against Catholic-New Iberia and figured in prominently. Plaisance scored the game-winning run as a substitute runner, scoring from first base on Taranto’s single, while Fremen made a strong defensive play in right on Catholic’s last at bat of the game to clinch the win.
“(Plaisance) coming in cold and scoring that run is something that might go unappreciated by most, but coming in cold and getting around to score isn’t easy. It’s a lot more difficult than people think,” Nugent said. “(Fremen) got a bead on that ball and ran it down … it was a routine play for her but not for everyone, and that was a ball that had a chance to make it to the wall if she doesn’t make that play.”
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