The Hahnville Tigers aren’t that far removed from a run of three straight trips to the Class 5A state championship game. Their effort to begin this season suggests 2016 could yield another.
Hahnville followed up a season opening victory over East Ascension with another against Sam Houston, both opponents entering the season as highly regarded threats to the state championship.
Sam Houston entered the season ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Louisiana Fab 5 ranking, while East Ascension was ranked third.
Sam Houston has won four of the past five Class 5A championships, one of those coming after besting Hahnville in the 5A championship game in 2012, the final year in HHS’ run of three straight title game appearances.
But on this day, Hahnville was the better team. The Tigers scored all five of their runs in the third inning, generating a rare big inning against star pitcher Tanner Wright—Wright was named Miss Softball by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association last season.
“We were swinging it well all day, but the third inning opened it up for us,” Hahnville coach Jerry Nugent said. “Multiple extra base hits by multiple players … I’m very proud of our team. We talk about it, that when you face a pitcher like (Wright), you won’t get many chances so you have to seize the opportunity when it comes. We did exactly that.”
Pryscilla Prince went 4 for 4 with two doubles at the plate for Hahnville. Madison LeBlanc hit a two run double that plated the Tigers’ go-ahead runs. Maeson Martindale, Baleigh Baudouin and Catherine Friloux each drove in runs.
“It really boosts our confidence,” Prince said. “We worked our counts and got good swings in when she threw a good strike … we know we’ve gotta be smart (against a top pitcher). This definitely gives everyone a big lift.”
Karly Taranto allowed four hits and struck out nine in a complete game winning effort. In her first two starts as the team’s ace pitcher, Taranto has felled the first and third ranked teams in Louisiana as per MaxPreps.
“They scored a few late, but really she had complete control of the game,” Nugent said. “It was really an unbelievable effort.”
In the team’s 9-5 win over East Ascension, Taranto went six complete innings (the game was called early due to darkness) and struck out five.
Kamryn Keller, Sarah VanEtta and Danielle Duplay came up with key run-scoring hits for the Tigers.
Though the Tigers have two wins over top contenders in the bag, Nugent warns things will get no easier going forward.
“You know, I told our players that we already knew we could play with anybody,” Nugent said. “The only thing that changes is now we’ve got a bullseye on us. We knew it about ourselves, but now everyone else knows it.”
Hahnville is in the midst of its annual softball tournament, contested at the Westbank Bridge Park. Today, the Tigers are slated to face Cabrini. On Friday HHS will compete against Beau Chene, and Saturday it will play two games, one against Live Oak and one against Lutcher.
“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves, for sure,” Nugent said. “But we’ve got a talented club. We want to play against the best.”
Though it is early in the season, he said the Tigers “absolutely” look at tournaments like this as a Sulphur practice run.
“To win a state championship, you have to beat three good teams in two days,” he said. “Let’s get used to that right now.”
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