Whether it was pitching or hitting, the St. Amant softball team had too much power for Walker on Thursday night.
The Gators hit four home runs while Addison Jackson struck out 14 batters as St. Amant picked up a 7-0 in in District 5-5 action at Walker.
The win was the 16th consecutive for St. Amant (19-1, 4-0), which came into the game rated third in the LHSAA Division I nonselect power ratings. Walker (9-5, 2-2), which handed No. 1 Live Oak its first loss on Tuesday, is rated 10th.
The game was the first between the schools since St. Amant defeated Walker 6-0 in last year’s Class 5A semifinals on its way to the state title.
The game was scoreless through two innings. Jackson, who limited Walker to two hits, smashed a two-run home run in the top of the third inning and the Gators were on track.
“I was not happy with the start of the game,” St. Amant coach Amy Pitre said. “We had four baserunning mistakes in the first two innings. I don’t think we came out as focused as we needed to, but we turned it around in the third and fourth innings.”
St. Amant didn’t need to worry about baserunning as it continued to hit the ball out of the park. Aralee Beene’s two-run shot in the fifth made it 4-0, and Alix Franklin added another two-run home run in the sixth. Kami Gautreau finished the scoring with a solo homer in the seventh.
“(Jackson) did a really good job on the mound. We did not make adjustments at the plate,” Walker coach Hali Westmoreland said. “Our defense did its best to stay behind (starting pitcher) Hannah Capello, but St. Amant capitalized on balls they could attack.”
Jackson’s first pitch of the game hit Walker’s Alexia Vilar. After that, Jackson retired the next 12 batters.
Walker’s best chance to get back in the game came in the bottom of the fifth. Isabella Watson drew a leadoff walk, and Alana Dossey followed with a chopper that got past St. Amant shortstop Samantha Landaiche into left field. Jackson sandwiched two strikeouts around a pop fly to second to get out of the inning.
Leave a Reply