How is it that a group of young ladies, several who are not even in high school yet, is able to continually take down many of the best high school softball teams in the state? It just simply doesn’t make sports sense. Softball has almost always been a sport where the best teams composed of upperclassmen who have trained together for years. Yet here is Quitman in 2021 winning game after game against highly ranked competition from classifications much larger than their Class B standing. Hopefully local enthusiasts have had a chance to witness their rare achievements as this kind of phenomena doesn’t take place very often. 

The 6-5 victory over Class 3A’s top ranked team, Grant High, is a perfect example of how these so young but so talented young ladies have taken the state softball world by storm. First of all there was Maggie Guyotte, who has to be one of the only 7th graders in the state playing varsity ball, hitting two home runs and driving in four. They were clutch shots too. The first gave Quitman a 2-0 lead and the second came with two outs and tied the game in the final frame that allowed Quitman to win in nine innings. How did they win? It came from the bat of an 8th grader, Karley Huckaby, who hit her second homerun of the season. Then there was another 8th grader Cali Deal, who struck out 12 in a yeoman like 165 pitch performance over nine innings to raise her record to 12-5 on the year, more wins individually than the rest of the softball teams in Jackson Parish have combined. Not to be forgotten was the stolen base and two runs scored by Freshman Madison Chaplin that put her in the rare 50-30 club with a nationally ranked 52 runs scored on the year and 31 stolen bases. At least she is in high school, although just barely.  Sophomore Skylar Hall also contributed a double. The victory was the fourth straight over a team that was ranked in the top ten of their classification at the time all being from Class 2A and above and the 20th of the year against teams with a winning record. 

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Quitman (24-7)	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	1	6	8	3
Grant (19-5)	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	5	9	1

WP – Deal 12-5, LP – n/a
2B – Hall
HR – Guyotte 2, Huckaby
RBI -Guyotte 4, Chaplin, Huckaby
SB – Chaplin, Vail

Late Lady Wolves rally falls short against top ranked Calvin

Coulda, woulda, shoulda…….Weston could have secured one of their best wins of the season if they would have scored a runner on second with one out in the top of the seventh inning in a game that they should have won over Calvin who is ranked #1 in Class C. The Lady Wolves started the contest with a bang, actually two big bangs as Emma Kate McBride and Jacie Leonard smashed homers to give Weston a 6-0 lead. It was 10-5 after two thanks to a Mallory Tolar single that plated Barmore and McBride followed by a Macie Hall two run blast. The lead a half an innings as Calvin parlayed three hit batters, two errors and two hits into a 12-10 lead. Back came Weston to score three when Madison Coody and McBride single. Both scored when Taylor Chatham’s ball up the middle was ruled an error. Tolar doubled and Hall knocked in the third of her four runs of the game with a single. It was then Calvin’s turn again to take the lead with two in the fourth and two in the fifth to go up 16-13 setting up the fateful last innning. Back to back to back doubles by McBride, who reached base in all five at bats and scored four runs, Chatham and Tolar who went 3/4 and 4/5 respectively brought Weston to the final one run deficit. Weston outhit Calvin 18-8 but hurt themselves with six errors compared to four for the Lady Cougars. The contest marked the first time all season Weston cracked three home runs in a game and also hit three doubles in a row. 

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Calvin (14-10)	0	5	7	2	2	0	0	16	8	4
Weston (8-16)	6	4	3	0	0	0	2	15	18	6

WP – n/a, LP – Aldy
2B – Tolar 2, Chatham, McBride
HR – Hall, Ledford, McBride
RBI – Hall 4, Ledford 3, Tolar 3, McBride 2, Chatham
SB – Emma Kate McBride

#1 Choudrant tops Weston in battle of 2B unbeatens

Four runs in the fourth and two in the fifth by Choudrant broke open a 1-0 contest and saddle Weston with their first district 2B loss of the season and snap a season best five game winnings streak. The only run scored by Weston came in the top of the seventh when Braden Theriot got hit by a pitch and scored on Tait Henderson’s double. Bryce Zehr went 3/3 and Davis Tolar got a hit.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Choudrant (24-3, 3-0)	0	0	1	0	4	2	0	7	9	1
Weston (10-5, 2-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	3

WP – n/a, LP – Shirley
2B – Henderson
RBI – Henderson
SB – Henderson, Shirley