What better way to prepare for the rigors and stress of the upcoming state tournament than schedule a game against one of the best teams in northeast Louisiana. It makes it even better when you win.
Quitman High, the top ranked team in Division V among “non-select” schools scored single runs in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings to win 3-1 against Oak Grove, which is ranked 2nd in Division IV. With the victory the district 1B champion Lady Wolverines improved to 24-4 on the year while Oak Grove, winners of district 2-2A, fell to 15-6 overall.
Anna Leach played a key role in the victory by laying down a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt in the second inning to score Karly Huckaby who had tripled to give the Lady Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Oak Grove tied it up in the top of the third but once again Leach stepped up big by drawing a walk in bottom of the 5th inning, stole second, then advanced to third and scored on wild pitches to give QHS a lead they would never relinquish. Quitman added an insurance run one inning later when Maggie Guyotte reached on an error and scored on a Hallie Kate Pullig single. Cali Deal made the lead stand up to run her pitching record to an area best 15-3 and lower her ERA to a microscopic 1.063 in 112 innings pitched this season.
Weston inches closer to qualifying for playoffs
Victories would have been nice but at least by “playing up” Weston has inched closer to the final qualifying spot in the Division V playoff bracket. It has been a long season for the Lady Wolves who at 6-20 on the season are tied for the most losses in the state among Division V “non-select” teams. The record isn’t the whole story though as Weston has played an extremely tough schedule chock full of team from higher classifications. The 17-6 loss to Class A Cedar Creek and the 20-4 defeat at the hands of Class 5A Captain Shreve are good examples. The contests marked the 5th game in a row and 8th time in the past 10 games the Lady Wolves have played against a school from a larger division. In the other two the Lady Wolves won. Despite the two losses, Weston actually climbed to #29 in the power rankings with the top 26 making the postseason.
Lady Tigers look to close season strong
To say that the 2024 softball season has been a strong test of will and commitment for Jonesboro-Hodge would be an understatement. After the 18-0 loss to Downsville on April 4th, the Lady Tigers fell to 0-14 on the year and to #39 in the Division IV rankings with no hope of making the postseason.
Still the Lady Tigers are playing hard and look to gain momentum for next year by winning one of their final three games when they host Class 4A Carroll High in a doubleheader on Monday and close out the year by traveling to Simsboro on Tuesday. Both days the first pitch is slated for 5:00 pm.