By T. Scott Boatright
HARRISONBURG – It took something a little extra for the Choudrant Lady Aggies to [pull off a win Thursday afternoon at Harrisonburg.
And the ninth-seeded CHS softball team did just that as the Lady Aggies ignited at the plate in the top of the ninth inning and then held on in the bottom half for an 8-4 win over eighth-seeded Harrisonburg to advance to the quarterfinals of the Louisiana High School Athletics Association Division V Nonselect playoffs.
The Lady Aggies jumped out first early on, with leadoff batter Holly Bennett, Choudrant’s pitcher, notching a double before scoring on another double hit by Zoey Smith.
And Choudrant stretched their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third inning after Bailey Grave Weaver reached first on a Harrisonburg fielding error before scoring on a Smith single.
After Harrisonburg cut that CHS lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Choudrant countered with three straight singles from Weaver, Smith and Addison Worley, who picked up the RBI for plating Weaver to stretch the Lady Aggies’ advantage to 3-1.
Choudrant held that lead going into the bottom of the seventh and final stanza of regulation play, but Harrison rallied for two runs on four straight singles with one out to push the game into extra innings tied at 3-3.
Then it happened – the Choudrant bats heated up.
Weaver led off the top of the seventh with a double before Smith smashed one over the fence
Then with one out, Elissa Guilotte and Emma Bell both singled before Mattie Johnson sent another ball flying out of the park to put the Lady Aggies up 8-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
Harrisonburg added a run in the bottom half of the stanza after a pair of errors committed by the Lady Aggies, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Lady Aggies to face top-seeded Holden in the quarterfinals.
Smith went 4-for-4 at the plate with two singles, a double and her home run to lead the Lady Aggies while Weaver went 3-for-5 with two singles and a double.
“It took a while for the bats to get started,” Antley said. “We hit some good line drives, right at them. But both teams made some great defensive plays. Everybody was doing their job, trying extra-hard.
“Then in the top of the ninth – we just exploded,” Antley said. “A two-run homer and a three-run homer. I don’t know how it happened. It was just one of those things. We had been scattering hits and scoring a run here and a run there, but it just all kind of exploded for us in the top of the ninth.”
The good news now for Choudrant is that they’ll return home for the lLady Aggies’ quarterfinal playoffs.
But the bad news is that they’ll be facing Holden.
“Yes, we get to come home,” Antley said. “But we’re playing Holden, which has won four straight titles. I don’t think they lost to anybody last year. They beat Summerfield tonight 11-0, so they’re who we have up next.
“But in the end, you always have to beat the best to reach the ultimate goal. And at least we’ll get to take them on at home. Right now we’re just going to get ready for Holden.”
That game against Holden will likely be played on Saturday, Antley said, adding that he couldn’t be specific yet because he hadn’t talked to the Holden coach yet as of late Wednesday night.
