By T. Scott Boatright
Choudrant took over early and never looked back in an 11-0 win in five innings over District 2-B rival Simsboro in Class B softball playoff action Monday evening at Cheryl Lamkin Field.
But it was also a win the Lady Aggies had to pick up the hard way — they had to earn it.
A two-run homer with one out in the first inning gave Choudrant its first lead of the night, as Zoey Smith smashed one over the centerfield fence to score herself and pitcher Holly Bennett, who had reached base on a walk.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Emma Bell singled, stole second and scored on a walk given up by Simsboro pitcher Carlei Wheeler, who then struck out the final batter in Choudrant’s lineup to work herself out of the jam and hold the Lady Aggies’ advantage to 3-0.
The Lady Tigers worked themselves into a scoring opportunity in the top of the second inning as Kaylee Murphy singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then moved to third on a Jasmine Self one-bagger.
But Murphy was caught in a rundown after a high, popout foul was dropped, leaving her stranded between the bases as the Lady Aggies tagged her attempting to slide into home plate.
Choudrant added five more runs in the bottom of the second with Elissa Guillotte, Addison Worley, Bell, Bailey Grace Weaver and Mattie Johnson all crossing home plate.
Bennett then dominated the next seven Simsboro batters in the top of the third and fourth innings, giving up one hit while fanning four Lady Tigers.
Choudrant put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the fourth before Wheeler worked herself out of that jam by forcing two short flyouts to Lady Tigers’ shortstop Lauren Garrison followed by a groundout at first base.
“We knew Carlei was going to pitch well and that she throws hard,” said CHS coach Wayne Antley about the Simsboro pitcher. “We were just fortunate to get a few hits when we had runners on and take advantage of that.
“What it boils down to is we just did enough to get by.”
After Bennett sent the next three Lady Tigers back to the dugout with two strikeouts and a shortstop to first groundup, the Lady Aggies sealed the win in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Guillotte doubled with one out before Bennett plated her with a RBI-single. Wheeler then recorded her seventh strikeout of the game before Bailey Grace Weaver’s two-RBI single gave the Lady Aggies the 10-run rule win at 11-0.
“We’ve been focused all year,” Antley said. “We usually play good defense with the exception of a couple of bad games. We do that and put the bat on the ball, and when you can do those two things, you’ve got a shot.”
Bennett earned the win with a three-hit shutout, striking out seven Lady Tigers along the way.
The 10th-seeded Lady Aggies will next face seventh-seeded Anacoco in a game likely to be played on Thursday.
Antley said he has learned a few things about his next opponent and is no stranger to the Lady Indians head coach, Richard Partridge.
“I saw Coach Partridge over there tonight,” Antley said. “I coached baseball against him when he was at Florien. So we have a history and knew he’d be here tonight.
“You find other coaches that really want to beat them, and want to help you beat them if they’re not playing them. So I made a few calls and learned a few things.”
One of those things will be what Antley calls “a really good left-handed pitcher,” something his Lady Aggies have seen this season against Quitman.
“Quitman’s got a good left-handed pitcher, too, so I really think that situation is going to be similar,” Antley said. “From what I hear the Quitman pitcher throws a little harder, but it’s going to be a lot like playing them.”
“I hear Anacoco hits well one through nine. It’s going to be tough. If we want to go any further it’s going to be tough. We know to expect a tough environment. But that’s to be expected this time of year.”
