Other than the host state, which has three teams competing, no other state had more than one team chosen to participate in the 10U Diamond Youth Softball (DYS) World Series, currently being played in Laurel, MS, which fields state champions from nine states, except one. That is the state of Louisiana represented by 10U state champion Jefferson Parish Recreation Department (JPRD) East and the local “dandy dozen” from Jackson Parish, who finished as state runner-up.
You have to give the DYS organization officials credit. They knew what they were doing when they chose Louisiana as the only other state to be awarded multiple representatives for World Series play. Heading into Saturday evening, only three teams remained unscathed, one of them being Saluda, the state champion from South Carolina. The other two? Both teams from Louisiana.
Some might think it is a surprise for a state runner-up to be one of only three undefeated teams at that point in the competition. They just don’t know how good Kylee-Ayn Allen, Malia Gunter, Lyla Hall, Kaylee Hammons, Caylee Mauthe, Ryleigh Puffer, Kadence Sampey, Natalie Sullivan, Mercedes Taylor, River Waggoner, Mez’Meri Walker, and Brenleigh Whitman under the guidance of manager Kristen Allen and coaches Cheyenne Allen and Bethany Garner.
A look back shows that JP10U is 16-2 overall against DYS teams across the state, the only losses coming against JPRD East, who beat the locals twice in the state tournament. On June 12-13, JP10U won all five games in a pre-district tournament in West Monroe. That was followed by four straight victories in the District 4 tournament played at the Jackson Parish Recreation Department Sports Complex on June 26-28. Two victories to open the state tournament, held in Buckeye, LA, from July 2-5, stretched the winning streak to 11 straight before JP10U faced JPRD East, which saddled JP10U with its first loss. Two more victories in the elimination side of the bracket put JP10U in the championship game, where once again they fell to JPRD East.
Fast forward to the DYS World Series, which concludes on Sunday. Jackson Parish opened by winning their two Pool Play games, first a thrilling 6-5 victory over Columbia, Mississippi, followed by an 19-0 trouncing of Hope Mills, North Carolina. In bracket play, Jackson Parish took a hard-fought 11-9 victory against Adams, Tennessee, setting up a game against, guess who? Yep, you got it, JPRD East, who beat Jackson Parish 14-4 late Saturday evening, dropping the locals into the elimination side of the bracket.
Jackson Parish is now scheduled to play Rusk, Texas, who lost 4-3 to Adams, Tennessee and beat Petal, Mississippi 5-1 in Pool Play before losing 8-1 to Saluda, South Carolina in the first round of bracket play and staying alive by beating Adams, Tennessee 7- 0 in an elimination game.
The first pitch is scheduled for 11:00 am on Sunday, with the winner of that game playing the loser of JPRD East and Saluda at 4:00 pm for the right to play for the World Series title at approximately 6:00 pm, or one hour after the end of the previous contest.
World Series Recap For Jackson Parish
Jackson Parish 6, Columbia, MS 5 (Game One Pool Play): Kadence Sampey scored on a grounder by Caylee Mauthe to give Jackson Parish a thrilling “walk-off” victory in extra innings that saw both teams scoring at will early on before the game turned into a pitcher’s duel over the last three innings. Playing under the extra innings rule of putting a player on second base to start the inning after the two teams battled to a 5-5 tie in regulation play, Sampey was placed on second base in the bottom of the extra inning, leading to Mez’Meri Walker getting hit by a pitch to put two runners on base. Natalie Sullivan ground out, advancing both runners. Mauthe then hit a comeback to the Columbia pitcher, who threw to first, but by reading the play, the heady Sampey got a tremendous jump and beat the throw home for the winner. Not overshadowed was the great defensive effort in the top half of the extra frame by Mauthe and Ryleigh Puffer, which put JP10U in position to win. With a runner on second to begin the inning, the Columbia batter hit a slow roller to third baseman Puffer, whose throw to first was late, but the alert Mauthe immediately fired the ball back across the diamond, where Puffer applied the tag to get the runner who was on second out. Winning pitcher Kylee Ayn Allen, who was a game hero in her own right after limiting Columbia to just one hit over the final three innings, then got two consecutive ground outs to keep Columbia scoreless. Both teams came out scoring, taking advantage of erratic pitching and play. Columbia tallied three times in the top of the first without a hit, thanks to two walks, a hit batter and three errors. Undaunted, JP10U regained the lead in their half of the inning when Natalie Sullivan led off with a single, went to second when Mauthe walked, and scored on Malia Gunter’s single. A ground out by Allen scored the second run, setting up a walk to Brenleigh Whitman and a passed ball that evened the score. Puffer’s ground out led to the fourth run being scored. Columbia came right back to take a 5-4 lead, but once again Jackson Parish rallied thanks to consecutive walks to Kaylee Hammons, Sampey and Walker, leading to yet another walk to Mauthe that tied the game.
Jackson Parish 19 Hope Mills, NC 0 (Game Two Pool Play): Nine walks and six hit batters by Hope Mills pitching, along with three errors, led Jackson Parish to the easy two and a half inning victory that saw the locals score the most runs in a game all summer. Malia Gunter got two of the four hits accumulated by Jackson Parish, with Kylee-Ayn Allen and Ryleigh Puffer also hitting singles. Every player either scored at least one run or had an RBI in the team effort. Scoring twice were Natalie Sullivan, Caylee Mauthe, Puffer, Brenleigh Whitman, Mercedes Taylor, Kaylee Hammonds, Kadence Sampey and Mez’Meri Walker, with Gunter, Allen and Lyla Hall also crossing home plate once. River Waggoner contributed with an RBI. Also coming up big was the duo of Sullivan and Allen, who combined to strike out eight and allow no hits.
Jackson Parish 11 Adams, TN 9 (Game One Bracket Play): With the score tied at 6-6, Jackson Parish plated five runs in the last two innings to outscore the game opponent. Caylee Mauthe and Natalie Sullivan led the team’s tournament-best 12-hit attack with three hits each, with Mauthe scoring three runs and knocking in four and Sullivan, who stroked a triple and got hit by a pitch, scoring three runs. Kadence Sampey added a pair of hits and two RBI, while Malia Gunter got a hit and walked twice, leading to her scoring three times. Kylee-Ayn Allen got a hit and knocked in a pair of runs, Ryleigh Puffer added a hit and an RBI, Kaylee Hammons hit a single, got hit by a pitch and scored, and River Waggoner scored a run after walking. Mercedes Taylor walked twice, and Brenleigh Whitman got a free pass. JP10 U jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Sullivan and Gunter opened by getting hit by a pitch and singling, respectively, followed by Mauthe knocking in two with a single. Consecutive two-out walks to Brenleigh Whitman, Mercedes Taylor and Lyla Hall brought in the final run of the frame. After falling behind 4-3, JP10U took a two-run lead in the top of the third inning when Sullivan led off with a triple, Gunter walked, and Allen hit a sacrifice grounder to tie the score. Mauthe then hit an RBI single and later scored on an error. With the score tied at 6-6, Jackson Parish opened up a 9-6 lead in the top of the fifth inning. Sullivan got the rally started with a single followed by a walk to Gunter. Three consecutive singles by Allen, Mauthe, and Puffer led to the scoring. Two more runs, which ended up being needed, were added in the top of the sixth when River Waggoner drew a walk and went to second after Kaylee Hammons got hit by a pitch. Kadence Sampey then hit a single that scored both. The runs proved to be crucial as Adams scored three runs in the bottom of the inning on a pair of walks, a fielder’s choice, and two errors before the attempted rally was squelched.
JPRD East 14 Jackson Parish 4 (Game Two of Bracket Play): Once again, JPRD East got the best of Jackson Parish, scoring five runs in the top of the first and, after Jackson Parish had clawed back to within one run, blew the game open with seven runs in the top of the fourth. Down five before their first at bat, JP10U showed their grit and determination to narrow the deficit to just one run, as the first six batters reached base before an out was made. Natalie Sullivan stroked a single to get things started and went to second when Malia Gunter walked. A Kylee-Ayn Allen single loaded the bases, leading to consecutive walks to Caylee Mauthe, Ryleigh Puffer and Brenleigh Whitman that narrowed the deficit to 5-3 and left the bases loaded with no one out. Another walk to Lyla Hall made it 5-4, but with the bases still jammed, all three runners were stranded when the JPRD East pitcher buckled down to get a pair of strikeouts.