A homer and a hankering. Those were the determining forces in the thrilling, white-knuckle, 9-8 Quitman victory over Buckeye on Thursday, March 19th in what turned out to be a mid-season instant classic.

Continuing a daunting gauntlet of 12 of 13 games on the road, the Class B Lady Wolverines, known for their willingness to play any LHSAA power, regardless of classification, anytime, anywhere, proved their mettle against the 8th-ranked team in the Division II rankings among “select” schools. 

The Homer!  With Quitman holding onto a slim 7-6 lead in the top of the 7th inning, Zoe Williams stroked the first pitch she saw over the left field fence to score Brenna Lamkin to give the Lady Wolverines what turned out to be a crucial three-run advantage. Showing a flair for the dramatics, the blast, which was the senior’s first “round tripper” of the season, capped off a tremendous 3/4, 3 RBI effort in one of her most impressive offensive performances of her career. 

The Hankering! Refusing to die easily, Buckeye opened the bottom of the final frame by getting two quick singles, leading to a pair of fielders’ choices and a sacrifice bunt that narrowed the QHS lead to 9-7 with two outs and runners on second and third base. The intentional walk to #3 batter Rosalle Richey, who had already homered one inning before, that followed to load the bases, was not a hard decision by Quitman head coach Justin Dodson, as it was a solid percentage play, as there was an open base. The choice to give the next batter, cleanup hitter Sadie St. Pe’, an intentional free pass as well, that forced in a run was much more difficult as it went against what would be considered conventional wisdom. That is, unless you were as well-versed about the competition as Dodson was.

“We knew she was their best hitter and I wasn’t going to let her beat us,” said Dodson, explaining what turned out to be a great decision. “She had already hit one out (first inning) and hit another to the wall, so I felt it was better to give them one run rather than take the chance of her plating two with another hit.”

The gutsy decision paid game-winning dividends as Maggie Guyotte, who had stepped in the circle in relief of winning pitcher Brenna Lamkin in the 7th inning, coaxed a fly ball to center field to end the game. 

Bower Power! Quitman showed their offensive prowess early as Anna Claire Leach, Hallie Kate Pullig, and Kinsley Ponder singled to load the bases, setting up a bases-clearing double by Briley Bowers to give the Lady Wolverines a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. “Double B” would strike again. With the game tied at 4-4 in the top of the fourth, Bowers ripped another “two-bagger”, this time a clutch, two-out shot that scored Guyotte and Pullig, to give her a career single-game best 4 RBI’s.

Lady Wolverines win 2 of 3 in Sulphur Tournament

Quitman traveled to their “home away from home” to take part in the prestigious Sulphur Tournament, played at Frasch Park in Sulphur, LA, where the Lady Wolverines have won the last two Class B state championships. The Lady Wolverines won two of the three games played against schools from much higher classification, dropping their first game 6-5 against Division I Destrahan from the New Orleans, LA area before coming back to flip the table on Division I Barbe from Lake Charles by the same 6-5 score and climaxing the trip by taking down Division III Church Point 9-1.

Destrehan 6 Quitman 5 (Friday): Despite outhitting the 7th ranked team in Division I 8-4, an uncharacteristic meltdown in the final two innings turned a 5-2 Quitman lead into a loss in the first game of their three game set. Four straight walks with two outs in the top of the 6th narrowed Quitman’s lead to 5-4 setting the stage for two more walks and a two out error that gave Destrehan the victory. The Lady Wolverines took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Zoee Williams singled and Avery Watson drew a walk, followed by Amelia Staggs laying down a perfect sacrifice to move the runners over so that Anna Leach’s single could bring them home. The lead increased to 4-2 one inning later when Briley Bowers smashed the first home run of her career that scored Kinsley Ponder, who had opened the frame with a single. QHS added another run to the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Hallie Kate Pullig’s sacrifice fly scored Leach. 

Quitman 6 Barbe 5 (Saturday): Barbe High School came out swinging the “big stick” by stroking a triple and a pair of doubles to jump out to a 4-0 lead, but big pokes of their own in the top of the third helped bring the Lady Wolverines all the way back. The rally started with Amelia Staggs and Anna Leach hitting one-out singles, which brought up Maggie Guyotte, who lived up to her reputation as one of the top power hitters in the state, regardless of classification, by smashing a shot over the left field fence to bring the Lady Wolverines to within 4-3. Three batters later, Quitman was ahead 5-4 as Hallie Kate Pullig and Brenna Lamkin sandwiched doubles around a single by Kinsley Ponder. Barbe would tie the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the third inning, but Quitman would score the winning run in the top of the fifth when Guyotte singled, went to third on Pullig’s second double of the game, and scored on a passed ball. Lamkin would earn the win a complete game, 10 strikeout effort.

Quitman 9 Church Point 1 (Saturday): Briley Bowers continued her recent power surge with a double and a triple, and Kinsley Ponder added another “three bagger” as The Lady Wolverines pounded out 11 hits against Church Point pitching to methodically pull away for the easy victory that gave Quitman its 10th victory of the season against 5 defeats. Maggie Guyotte, the winning pitcher, Hallie Kate Pullig, Ponder, and Bowers would each get 2 hits, with Pullig and Bowers scoring 2 runs each. Ponder, Brenna Lamkin, Anna Pardue, Avery Watson, and Keeley Davis would also cross home plate for Quitman.

Wolverines Split Two in Two Days

In a sport where a team may play a game on back-to-back days or even two in the same day, every baseball season has many ups and downs. Quitman endured a perfect example of how, one day, everything goes right, while the next, everything goes wrong. This past Thursday and Friday, they first dominated Downsville 15-0, then fell to Choudrant 13-2, dropping to 12-8 on the year. 

Quitman 15 Downsville 0: Team Captains Maddox Duck and Hudson Pullig led by example by combining to get on base 6 times, scored 3 runs, stole 3 bases, and knocked in 2 runs to lead the Wolverines to the four-inning “mercy rule” victory. Just as impressive was the effort on the mound by Remi Ups, who gave up only one meaningless single and struck out 7 to earn the complete game shutout victory. Kace West also had a big day by scoring 4 runs, stealing 3 bases, and coaxing three walks, while Conner Moak scored 3 runs, stole 2 bases, walked 2 times, and had an RBI. Zach Smudricks had 2 RBI, and both Tucker Barnett and Cail King knocked in a run. \

Choudrant 13 Quitman 2: The former district foe scored 10 runs in the first three innings, including six in the second frame, to wallop the Wolverines, who made a season-worst 6 errors. Kace West continued a torrid two days at the plate by getting a double and two additional hits while Cail King and Asher Burns scored the Wolverine runs.

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