Jackson ends historic season with Outstanding Player award

Every step of the way, it was a special season for St. Amant junior Addison Jackson, and fittingly, it ended in the most special way possible on Saturday evening.

Jackson helped lead her team to a dominating 10-0 victory over fourth-seeded West Monroe to capture the Class 5A state championship. It was the program’s second title in four years and its seventh overall.

Jackson put forth another amazing performance.

From the plate, Jackson went 2-3 with a big two-run homer in the second inning. From the circle, she threw five perfect innings—not surrendering a single hit or walk.

This performance was good enough for Jackson to be named the game’s Outstanding Player.

Jackson and the Lady Gators played West Monroe during the regular season and won a close 5-3 contest. This time around, they overpowered the Lady Rebels from start to finish.

“I was a lot more rested this time around--physically and mentally,” Jackson said. “And I was way more in attack mode. I attacked every single batter. All of my pitches were on point. I spun it better than I’ve spun it all season, and I threw it harder than I’ve thrown it all year.”

The Lady Gators had a bit of a rocky start to the season. They had to begin the year playing at Butch Gore Park due to their new artificial turf not being completed at their home stadium.

St. Amant was just 3-2 in its first five games. The Lady Gators then finished the year on a 28-game winning streak. That included a five-game playoff run that saw them outscore their opponents, 53-3.

“We improved so much. When we started the year, we were playing on this little field at Butch Gore, when our field wasn’t done,” Jackson said. “We had a lot of room to grow, and we had a lot of new players that hadn’t seen the field before. I think we worked super-hard to get where we are. Just seeing us grow throughout the year and have it pay off, it’s really rewarding.”

It was a historic season for Jackson.

She shattered the school record for most home runs in a single season, which was previously held by LSU’s Taylor Tidwell (17). The homer Jackson smashed during the 5A title game was her 26th of the year.

“That one felt really good. To hit one off of this team in the state championship, it’s definitely the best home run I’ve hit so far,” Jackson said.

Jackson has also shattered the school record for most career home runs, which was 39. She has eclipsed that mark as a junior, and that’s including the 2020 season. The Lady Gators played just 13 games that year, due to COVID-19.

“Hitting was definitely contagious today. I went up there thinking I was going to knock the cover off of the ball, and I did,” Jackson said.

But Jackson also did special things from the circle. She piled up more than 300 strikeouts for the season.

In addition to the five perfect innings she threw against West Monroe on Saturday, Jackson threw a no-hitter against Walker during the regular season.

Jackson is a Boston College commit.