The dream is still alive! By winning three of four games played in the District 5 Tournament held in Bossier City over the weekend the Jackson Parish 8U Coach Pitch All Star girls moved a step closer to their ulitmate goal of winning the state championship.

To earn the right to play in the Little League state tourney, that will be held July 8 – 11th at St. Julien Park in Broussard, LA the locals beat DeSoto 23-3, West Ouachita 26-21 and Shreveport 15-5, before losing to Shreveport in the finals by a 17-10 margin. 

Jackson Parish 26 West Ouachita 21 – The locals amassed a pair of tournament bests in the victory, one which was very good and one not so good, but thanks to 33 hits, JP8U was able to overcome the 18 errors m made. Every single one of the 13 players got at least two hits and each scored at least one run as JP8U raced out to a 21-9 lead after three innings and held on for the victory. Hannah Aldy led the hit parade with four that included a double followed by three hits each by Kate Keiffer (2-3B), Ryan Kate Wyatt, Brelaina Hall (2-2B), Lizzie Sulivan and Charlee Mauthe. Ainsley Bougues, Scarlett Parks (3B), Presley Carpenter, Adeline Anderson, Elliot Savage, Ashlyn Petre and Ryleigh McCormick added two hits each. 

Jackson Parish 15 Shreveport 5 – Seven runs in both the first and second innings staked the locals to a commanding 14-4 lead that led to the ten run rule victory. JP8U pounded out 16 hits in the contest, half which went for extra bases led by a pair of doubles from Ryan Kate Wyatt and a double and triple off the bat of Kate Keiffer. Hannah Aldy and Ashlyn Petre also smacked three baggers and Elliot Savage, Ryleigh McCormick and Brelaina Hall added a double each. 

Shreveport 17 Jackson Parish 10 (Championship Game) – In the rematch for the title, Jackson Parish got one more hit than the game before against Shreveport but couldn’t overcome 17 errors made.  as Shreveport scored all their runs over the last four innings to reverse a 6-2 JP8U lead.  Once again the locals got out to an early lead but this time Shreveport scored 11 runs in the last two innings to rally for the victory. Ryan Kate Wyatt, Hannah Aldy, Ryleigh McCormick and Brelaina Hall all slapped doubles in the contest with Aldy, McCormick, Wyatt, Ashlyn Petre, Elliot Savage, Presley Carpenter, Lizzie Sullivan and Charlee Mauthe getting two hits each. 

Overall the JP8U team scored 74 runs in the four games for an 18.5 runs per game average. They also carded 92 hits as a group for a robust .626 team average that included 19 doubles, 10 triples and a home run. 

Individual stats from District 5 tournament play (Category leaders highlighted by bold type)