Hannan rides early scoring to win

SULPHUR — Archbishop Hannan coach Becky Lambert knew the best way for her team to gain an advantage was to score early.

The Hawks scored both early and often, pounding out 13 hits while taking a 10-2 victory over Catholic-Pointe Coupee in the Class 1A final Saturday at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s State Softball Tournament.

Title-game MVP Dallas Hebert wen 4-for-4 with three runs batted in and three runs scored for Covington-based Hannan (24-7), which won its second straight 1A title.

“This one is sweeter than the first one,” Lambert said. “There was so much more pressure this time. We played a tough schedule and we got everybody’s best game. They (Hawks) did a good job of making adjustments at the plate and they hit the ball.”

Sydney Finch finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Kimberly Nilsson was 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Hawks. Victoreia St. Philip added a solo home run. Maddi Shelton scattered five hits for the winners in the game played at Frasch Park.

Catholic-PC (19-12), a No. 13 seed, was in the final for first time finishing as the 1A runner-up in 1996.

“We’ve got an amazing team,” CHSPC coach Lauren Castle Doucet said. “They’ve worked so hard all year.

“Hannan is very talented. We made some mistakes (in the field) and didn’t make the adjustments we needed to make at the plate. To get this far and play for a championship means a lot for us.”

Blaire Bass was 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Phoebe Fabre was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Hornets.

Fabre led off the game with a single to left for CHSPC. She took second on the throw back to the infield and advanced to third on an error. Sydney Welch and Claire Roy drew walks to load the bases. Bass’s infield single then scored Fabre.

Third-seeded Hannan responded with four runs in the bottom of the first and never trailed again. Hebert had a two-RBI double to score Kimberly Nilsson and Brooke Laigast. Finch doubled to left and scored on an error.

The Hornets added a run in the second when Fabre reached on an error, stole second and scored on another error. But Hannan came right back with three runs. Laigast tripled and scored on a single by Nilsson. Hebert came through with another RBI hit. Next, Finch singled to left, and Hebert scored when the ball got past the CHSPC outfield.

The Hawks upped their lead to 9-2 with two more runs in the fourth. Victoreia St. Philip led off with a home run to left. Nilsson walked and eventually scored on a field’s choice.

Hannan tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth. The Hawks loaded the bases before Carley Eshelman drew a walk to score another run.