North Vermilion Lady Patriots knock off Kaplan, 13-4

The table was set for the the third and final match-up between the North Vermilion Lady Patriots and the Kaplan Lady Pirates, to be the best game of the series.
These teams had split the season series throughout the regular season, and now faced off against each other in Sulphur as part of the Fast pitch 56 State Championship tournament.

The Lady Patriots would get the best of their rival by defeating them by the final score of 13-4.
In the beginning it seemed as though the Lady Pirates were going to take command of this game.
In the bottom of the first inning, Kritie Thibideaux and Lindsey Schexnailder reached base on back-to-back singles. Then one batter later, with two outs, catcher Kailey Lejeune stepped up to the plate and hit an RBI single that scored Thibideaux, to give the Lady Pirates the 1-0 lead.
The Lady Pirates were able to extend the lead even further in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a Caroline Touchet solo home run, to give the Lady Pirates the early 2-0 lead.
The Lady Pirates seemed to be rolling. That is until the top of the fourth inning.
By the time the Lady Patriots got done batting, they hat batted around the lineup, collected eight hits, scored seven runs and the Lady Pirates saw their two run lead turn into a five run deficit.

In the top of the fourth inning for NV, Morgan Harrington had an RBI-double, Elise Vincent had an RBI-single, Brooke Dupuy had a two RBI double and the big stick of the inning belongs to Miranda Martin, who hit a three-run homerun to left field to make the game 7-2 in North Vermilion's favor.

The Lady Pirates would try to answer back by score a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, but that was only answered by three more Lady Patriot runs in the top of the fifth inning.
When the game was over the Lady Patriots found their bats and score 13 runs, and beat their district rival, the Lady Pirates, by the final score of 13-4.
“They came through, and we didn't,” Kaplan head coach Shay Herpin said. “We had baserunners early, and we should have taken advantage of it, but we didn't. They just did a great job of hitting. Give it to them, they played their butts off and we didn't.”

With this loss, the Lady Pirates' season comes to an end, and despite not making it as far into the tournament as they would have like, the Lady Pirates still had a very successful season.
They finished the season with a 24-6 record, and have the district 6-3A trophy sitting in their trophy case.
“Well it's a broken record,” Herpin said. “We get here (Sulphur) three years in a row, and we don't do anything once we get here. We have to change our attitude and mentality because it's very frustrating to get here three years in a row and not win a game. We need to step up to the plate. For some reason we play really good in district, and not very good in the playoffs. That needs to get fixed. It's my fault. Apparently I didn't get these girls ready to play this week, and this loss falls squarely on my shoulders.”
It may be a long trip back home for the Kaplan Lady Pirates, but they shouldn't travel back with their head hung low. It may be hard not to achieve all of the goals they had set at the beginning of the season, but to make it this far and play the high quality of softball they have played all season long, that alone is a victory.