Kaplan uses big inning to beat Erath

The Kaplan Lady Pirates used a 10 run fifth inning to vault them over their district rivals, the Erath Lady Bobcats, on their way to an 11-3 victory.

The Lady Pirates scored a run in the top of the first inning for an early 1-0 lead over the Lady Bobcats.

Things would stay relatively quite, with a couple of base hits here and there for both teams, until the fifth inning rolled around.

Heading into the fifth inning the Lady Pirates led 1-0. The same couldn’t be said after the top of the fifth was over.

Whether it was nerves or inexperience showing its head, errors plagued the Lady Bobcats in the top of the fifth inning.

Three of the first four batters for the Lady Pirates reached base safety via an error.

Over the course of the top of the fifth inning the Lady Panthers would bat around the line up nearly twice.

In total the Lady Pirates would rack up seven hits, and score 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning to make the score 11-0.

“We finally got our hitting turned around, and that made all the difference,” Lady Pirates Head Coach Shay Herpin said. “I think we were hitting the ball hard. We just weren’t getting the timely hit. In the fifth inning we kept hitting it hard, but instead of
hitting them right at people. Those balls found the gaps and got past people and that’s how we were able to have such a big inning.”

The Erath Lady Bobcats would try to mount a comeback of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The first two batters had back to back singles and then Kylia Benoit stepped up and had a two RBI double.

The Lady Bobcats would score one more run in the bottom of the fifth to bring the score to 11-3.

The sixth and seventh innings were uneventful, and the Kaplan Lady Pirates won by the final score of 11-3.

“We didn’t have our number one today,” Herpin said. “We waited a little long to get things going, but once we did it worked out well for us.”

The number one that coach Herpin referred to was starting pitcher Abby Trahan, but Lindsey Schexnailder stepped up and pitched a good game for the Lady Pirates.

Schexnailder pitched all seven innings and only gave up three runs on 10 hits. She also struck out one batter.

“Outside of the fifth inning, that’s the type of softball we can play,” Erath Head Coach Lance Beal said. “I’m not exactly sure what happened in the fifth inning. I think some of our inexperience got to us, but we know we are a better team than the way
we played.”

The Erath Lady Bobcats are going to be back in action tonight as they travel to take on West St. Mary.

The Kaplan Lady Pirates get to return home as they are playing host to the Abbeville Lady Wildcats this afternoon. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor