Lady Pirates take driver seat in district

The Kaplan Lady Pirates (15-5, 5-1) were riding high after defeating the Notre Dame Lady Pios on Tuesday, and they used that momentum to defeat a North Vermilion Lady Patriots team that has won its last five games, by the final score of 5-0.

“I think we are playing well,” Kaplan’s Head Coach Shay Herpin said. “We are correcting some of the mistakes we were making earlier. Now, we are starting to see the ball well, and playing good defense. Along with that our kids are working really hard, and I’m proud of that.”

The Lady Pirates were able to stand on two things in the victory over North Vermilion.

They stood on a solid second inning by the bats and solid pitching from Abby Trahan.

The second inning, thanks to some timely hits and a few mistakes by the Lady Patriots were able to plate five runs in the bottom of the second inning.

“We are facing some really good pitching,” Herpin said. “Our kids have been working really hard in practice with coach Courtney (Hargrave) and have been able to work through some of the problems we were having at the beginning of the season.”

Along with scoring five runs in the second the Lady Pirates also got a solid performance from pitcher Abby Trahan.

Trahan pitched all seven innings and gave up only three hits and no runs to a North Vermilion team that has averaged roughly 10 runs a game this season.

Trahan was able to also strike out nine Lady Patriots over the course of the game.

“Hats off to them (Kaplan), they played a great game,” Lady Patriots Head Coach Richard Prejean said. “In a tight ball game when you make mistakes, you are probably going to end up on the losing end of that deal. Their pitcher (Trahan) pitched one
heck of a game. They are a great team that is well coached.

“I’m not disgusted with this performance. We just played a great team and lost. They are one of the best teams in the state, and there is a good chance we will see them again.”

Coach Prejean doesn’t want to make any excuses or take anything away from the game that Kaplan played, but the Lady Patriots have been bitten a bit by the injury bug.

“I’m not saying it would have made enough of a difference, but if we could have been at full strenght that would have been nice,” Prejean said. “Having said that, it is always hard to beat them at their house.”

The Lady Patriots are in action this weekend when they travel to West Monroe to take part in a tournament.

The Kaplan Lady Pirates are going to be back on the diamond on Tuesday when they face off against district rival West St. Mary in Baldwin.

With this win over the Lady Patriots and a win over the Lady Pios on Tuesday, the Kaplan Lady Pirates are now in the drivers seat for the district title.

The last half of the season is going to be a fun one to watch.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor