John Curtis nips Kaplan in Class 3A finals; Lady Patriots come close

John Curtis showed why it was the No. 1 seeded team in Class 3A.
After falling behind 3-0 to Kaplan after five innings, John Curtis scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to storm back and take a 4-3 lead.
Kaplan could not score any more runs in its last at bat in the top of the seventh inning, falling 4-3.
The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Abby Trahan ripped a two-run home run for Kaplan.
The Lady Pirates added an extra run in the top of the sixth inning when Lexi Breaux hit a RBI-double down left field.

John Curtis... 6
NV….. 5
SULPHUR- They almost pulled it off.
The North Vermilion Lady Patriots were a few plays away from pulling off a comeback upset on No. 1 John Curtis, but North Vermilion fell short, losing 6-5 in the semifinals of the Class 3A playoffs Saturday afternoon.
John Curtis (26-3) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first and led 6-2 heading into the seventh inning, but North Vermilion (25-6) battled to within one and the No. 1 seed escaped with the one-point victory.
North Vermilion was retired in order in the top of the first inning, then John Curtis picked up three runs capped off by a an error on the second baseman that scored Courtney Vidrine and Payton Adams.
In the second, North Vermilion put points on the board after an Elise Vincent bunt and an error by the John Curtis first baseman, which scored Kaylee Lopez to cut the gap to 3-1. John Curtis responded by tacking on another run in the second to go up 4-1.
North Vermilion’s Claire Meyers earned a sacrifice fly that scored Demi Boudreaux and put the Lady Patriots within two. With her team down 6-2 and with two outs, Meyers smashed a three-run home run over the left field fence.
However, the next batter was forced into a grounder to the third baseman that ended North Vermilion’s season.
Meyers went 1 for 3 with four RBIs. Freshman Kaylee Lopez earned three hits in three at bats; Hannah Vidallier and Adele Vincent each earned two hits.
In the other semifinal game, the Kaplan Lady Pirates edged Brusly 7-6 in eight innings of back-and-forth softball. Kaplan advances to play John Curtis Saturday night for the Class 3A championship.
“We’ve been through tons of stuff,” said Kaplan head coach Shay Herpin. “They fought through everything. They’re softball players. We’ve been busting our butts for three months. We’ve had adversity here and there that we had to overcome. These kids have never given up. It’s amazing. Win or lose in the championship game, nobody expected us to be there and we’re going to have some fun.”