Dutchtown, Reynolds deliver Lady Gators’ first loss of season

GEISMAR - Dutchtown’s Alexi Reynolds held St. Amant at bay in the circle and delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap the Lady Griffins’ 2-1 District 6-5A victory Thursday afternoon at Lady Griffin Park

The contest marked St. Amant’s first loss of the season. The Lady Gators (21-1, 3-1) now stand alone in second place in district behind Hahnville (16-3-1, 4-0) who they are scheduled to host to end the first round of play Tuesday. Dutchtown (13-8, 2-2) finds themselves in a tie for third with East Ascension (12-10, 2-2).

“I think our schedule has been quite tough since the beginning of the season,” Dutchtown head coach Nancy Ensminger said. “ I think my team is prepared to play anybody. They put the hits together today and they know what they are facing when we play St. Amant. My pitcher did a great job keeping their batters from hitting. They have a great hitting team and that is a great team right there. I mean they were undefeated before they came here. We definitely came out here and played some ball. I am proud of them.”

Reynolds struckout eight over eight innings surrendering one run on four hits and two walks. Aime Parent took the loss surrendering two runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out three over seven 2/3 innings.

Averi Parnell lined over short to open the bottom of the eighth inning. Mackenzie Kohler’s sacrifice bunt and Jade Bourgeois’ groundout to second advanced the runner before Reynolds lined through the left infield to send home the winning run.

“(Reynolds) has got great composure not only in the circle but also at the plate,” Ensminger said.  “She has been getting a lot of key hits for us. She is a clutch type of hitter and doesn’t let a lot of pressure get to her but she doesn’t let her at bats interfere with her defensive position - her primary role on this team. That is what you call a great competitor.”

St. Amant knotted it up 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning. Kelly Luquette led off with a double to center before advancing on Emily Douglas’ pop up and scoring on Bridget Buquoi’s double to left. Melanie Parker’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runner but Reynolds struckout Kandace Boudreaux looking to end the inning.

“We scored because they dropped the ball, not because we hit the ball,” St. Amant head coach Scott Nielson said. “If she makes the catch we are not in position to tag like we should have been. Ifs and whats are not going to get you anything. We got outplayed today. That is the bottom line.

“If you do the work properly and make adjustments the team that does it the best will have the most favorable results. We didn’t do the work the right way and they took advantage of their opportunities. We didn’t get the job done. We didn’t make adjustments at the plate. We didn’t hit our spots pitching. We didn’t get bunts down. We had some calls that went against us that I vehemently disagree with but it is what it is. They won the game today. They played a lot better than we did and deserved to win.”

St. Amant nearly scored in the seventh inning after Reynolds struckout Parent and Brooke Capello to open the inning. Gabrielle Templet lined inside the third base bag and pinch running Karli LaBauve stole second before Amanda Martin lined through the center of the infield which should have scored a run but LaBauve was ruled to have left early.

“Against a team like this, you can’t sit and feel like you are in control until it is over. You still have to work hard,” Ensminger said. “This is a good team that we are playing and they have the history to back it up. They have a great program so you can never think it is over. You can’t relax against a team like this. You have to stay really strong throughout.”

Dutchtown threatened to end the game in the bottom half. Carey Alexis lined through the center of the infield to lead off before Faydra Hall dropped a single to shallow right after Parent struckout Hannah Bergeron. Justine Tureau then lined through the center of the infield but Parker threw out Alexis at home from center to catcher Douglas and Amanda Vicknair popped up to end the inning.

Martin reached on a throwing error to lead off the eighth but was thrown out trying to take second to shortstop Vicknair. Douglas lined through the center of the infield after Reynolds struckout Luquette but Buquoi popped up to end the inning.

Dutchtown went ahead in the fourth inning. Parnell led off with a single to left and advanced on Kohler’s sacrifice bunt before Bourgeois reached on a fielding error. Alexis’ single to right plated the run after Parent struckout Reynolds but Bergeron grounded out to end the inning.

“Nancy does a great job with her pitchers,” Nielson said. “She is a pitching coach and a pitcher herself. Alexi did a great job of hitting her spots today when she needed to and got the pitches that she needed when she needed them. We didn’t do that. When we missed our spots they made us pay and when she missed hers we didn’t make them pay.”

Parnell was 2 for 4 with two runs for Dutchtown, while Alexis was 2 for 3 with one RBI and Vicknair was 2 for 4.

Luquette was 1 for 3 with one run and Buquoi was 1 for 4 with one RBI for St. Amant.