An overflowing stadium and loud, electric atmosphere at East Ascension left both the home Spartans and longtime rival St. Amant with some early nerves and kinks to work through.
But the visiting Lady Gators were able to capitalize on miscues and opportunities early, seize momentum and ultimately power past the Lady Spartans, 8-2, and back to the Division-I Non-Select semifinals in next week’s state tournament in Sulphur.
“Look, to win a game like this, whether it’s EA or whatever, a quarterfinal game, a playoff game, you have to make effort plays,” St. Amant coach Amy Pitre said. “You saw my centerfielder make one, and I think that’s why we were all excited because we know we have to do those things, so to see it happen is pretty special.
“And I know they had a couple of mistakes. And you make a couple of mistakes like that, I don’t care who you’re playing at this point in the season it’s gonna hurt you. So that was just our focus to stayed focused, to make those effort plays for our pitchers with that lineup. I mean, that lineup is tough, so just go make more plays than them.”
The Lady Gators began applying pressure from the first pitch with a lined shot by senior shortstop Bailey Ducote to the left side that gave East Ascension some fits as a diving catch couldn’t quite be corralled and then erred throw that allowed her to reach all the way to third.
Three batters late, junior third baseman Olivia Johnson made the Lady Spartans pay with a sacrifice fly to deep center for the 1-0 lead and early momentum on which St. Amant would quickly build.
“That’s huge, and that’s something that coach Amy really points out is when the other team gives us those mistakes, we have to take advantage of ’em,” Johnson said. “And we were able to capitalize on those runs so early that I was able to talk to my pitcher to just have fun. I told her you’ve just gotta go out there and play your game because that’s what we do.”
Sophomore centerfielder Madeline Stevens‘ catch Pitre mentioned, rangy deep back into the wall to rob a potential extra-base hit, highlighted a bottom of the first in which East Ascension drew three walks, but couldn’t push across a tying run.
And the Lady Gators blew the game open when they came back to the plate in the next inning.
Sophomore designated player Kyndall Landry drew a leadoff walk to set the table, and her twin Kaydi Landry brought her home with a two-run shot to right-center in a memorable next at-bat.
Down 1-2 in the count, Kaydi took an attempted throw to first by the catcher off her helmet and was checked on by St. Amant coaches and training staff before play could resume. She launched the next pitch she saw out of the park for the 3-0 lead.
“Yeah, I definitely didn’t expect to get hit in the head, but it really just lit a fire under me,” said Kaydi, the sophomore first baseman. “Especially after I’d kind of been struggling at the plate, it was my time to get a hit. And I just stopped and reset and knew I was gonna get one… It’s a great feeling, especially after what had happened, just to finally square up a ball, especially after the slump I’ve been in.”
Junior left fielder Kenley Triche drew a walk the next at-bat, and Ducote chopped a ball over third base two at-bats later to put both Gators in scoring position with one out.
Senior right fielder Rylie Causey sent a hard-hit ball back up the middle to score both runs and snowball the lead to 5-0 with the big inning.
East Ascension drew another pair of two-out walks in the bottom half, but couldn’t capitalize.
St. Amant sophomore righty Brently Bourque took the circle in relief two outs into the frame, induced a pop-up to end the threat and helped limit the free passes the rest of the way and, with some more good defensive plays behind her, keep the Lady Spartans at bay.
She struck out five batters and allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.
“My mentality was just to hit my spots, trust my defense and stay focused — don’t let the outside noise distract me,” Bourque said. “Just focus on what I do best.”
East Ascension managed to string some things together in the bottom of the fourth as senior shortstop Madison Stevens, junior Tiereny Zenon and senior catcher Avery Stevens loaded the bases on a walk, error and single to center, respectively, and a sacrifice fly to right by senior third baseman Cayden Tullier put the home team on the board.
But Pitre and company in the St. Amant dugout recognized the runner at first tagged to early, threw over to the base to appeal and recorded a round-about inning-ending double play to reclaim momentum.
“We saw her leave early, and we couldn’t get up fast enough,” Pitre smiled. “So I think it was just — I’ll have to go back and look at it — maybe something that’s just a miscue by them that really helped us get out that inning. And I don’t know if we would’ve gotten out of it or not, but where they were at in their lineup, I’ll take whatever I can get at that moment.”
Senior catcher Brooke Rabalais drew a lead-off walk to start the fifth inning, and Johnson sent a 2-2 bomb a few pitches later not only over the centerfield fence, but the entire scoreboard out past it, to extend the lead to 7-1.
“She was working me all in, and I knew I had to have a good at-bat because the girl before me got a walk,” Johnson said. “Leadoff walks always come back to bite you, and I just wanted to have a good at-bat and pick up my team.”
Singles by sophomore first baseman Emma Blanchard and Madeline Stevens, the latter scoring the former, helped the Lady Spartans scratch across another run in the bottom of the fifth.
But that’s all that Bourque and the Lady Gators would allow, as St. Amant added the only remaining run in the top of the seventh with a Johnson walk and an eventual error on an outfield knock by Kyndall Landry that brought home junior pinch-runner Aubrey Schmidt.
“Both teams at the end of the day gave everything they’ve got,” East Ascension coach Toni Hebert Ricca said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more than what they gave me. They gave me a whole bunch of fight, just like they did all season. This year for EA Softball’s been one of the best years that they’ve had all year long, so I consistently remind them of that.”
East Ascension’s No. 4 seed marked its highest since 2011 — also its last season to notch a win in the rivalry series — and its first single-digit seed since 2015.
“Man, it’s been a ride,” Hebert Ricca said. “Especially my seniors, I’ve got seven of ’em, and they hold a special place in my heart. And like I said, they gave me everything they’ve got. I couldn’t ask for anything more. They ended on one of the best seasons we’ve had, so super proud of ’em.”
St. Amant meanwhile heads back to its fourth straight state tournament after 2023 and 2024 championships and a heartbreaking extra-inning loss in the 2025 semifinals.