Incredible Season Ends
For the third straight season the Jena Lady Giants made the trip south this past weekend to Frasch Park in Sulphur, Louisiana to participate in the semifinal round of the Division III Non-Select State Playoffs. The last two years the Lady Giants have had their season come to an end in the semifinal round with two tough defeats to Sterlington.
This team, however, came into the season determined to bring home a state championship. They have been locked in from day one and have put in the work to get back to this point. The Lady Giants motto all season has been to Finish. The Lady Giants easily won their second round and quarterfinal game to make it to the semifinals.
In the semifinal round, #3 Jena would take on #2 Pine Prairie, who was led by their freshman pitcher Kynnedi Ware. There would be a lot of hype around the ballpark as this matchup would be the must-see matchup of the morning session. Everyone at the park wanted to see the battle between the freshman Ware and Lady Giant’s pitcher Kiette Cooper, as both pitchers came into the game with over 300 strikeouts on the season.
The game would live up to the hype as it would be a tight game throughout. The Lady Giants would get on the board first as senior Haylee Dangerfield would reach base on a walk to start the game. The very next batter, junior Callie Decker, would hit a double to centerfield to score Dangerfield and give the Lady Giants a 1-0 lead. Ware would limit the damage in the 1st inning as the Lady Giants had an opportunity to put more runs on the board but couldn’t bring anyone in.
Kiette Cooper would get off to a great start after giving up a leadoff single she would retire six straight hitters to get to the third inning without giving up a run. In the third inning, Pine Prairie would come back though with a couple of RBI singles to take a 2-1 lead.
The Lady Giants would answer in the top of the fourth inning as Kiette Cooper would come in to score as Pine Prairie would throw the ball into the Jena dugout letting the Lady Giants tie the game at 2. Later in the inning Autumn Sharp would get her second hit of the game to bring in Kaylee Hardie and give the Lady Giants a 3-2 lead.
The Lady Giants would hold on to the lead as Kiette Cooper would retire the last eight hitters she faced in the game. Sophomore left fielder Hallie Poole would catch the final out in left field to give the Lady Giants the 3-2 win. Kiette Cooper would pick up the complete game victory giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and finishing with 8 strikeouts. Autumn Sharp would lead the Lady Giants at the plate going 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Callie Decker would also finish with a double and an RBI.
With the win, the Lady Giants would move on to the state championship game where they would play the #5 Doyle Lady Tigers. Doyle defeated #1 Kaplan in their semifinal matchup 13-3 in five innings. Doyle would come into the game with a big senior class determined to win the state championship after losing to Sterlington 1-0 in last year’s state championship. The first five hitters in Doyle’s lineup would be seniors with 4 of the 5 players signed to play college softball.
Coming into the game, the last time Doyle won a state championship would be in 2018 as they won the Class 2A state championship that season. The Lady Giants were looking to win their second state championship in school history. This would be the third state championship appearance for the Lady Giants since the 2014 season.
The Lady Giants would be the home team as they would come into the game as the higher ranked team. Doyle would strike first as senior Shelby Taylor would start the game with a triple to right field. Taylor would then come in to score on an RBI single from Bailey McLin to give Doyle a 1-0 lead.
Jena would tie the game in the bottom half of the inning as Callie Decker would hit a line drive to centerfield that would hit off the glove of centerfielder Alyson Fletcher. Decker would make it to second base for a double and would come in to score on a sacrifice fly from Triniti Williams. The Lady Giants would struggle to get hits for most of the day.
In the fourth inning, freshman Kaylee Hardie would hit a long homerun to left field to give the Lady Giants a 2-1 lead. This would be Hardie’s second homerun of the season. In the top of the fifth inning, Doyle would answer though as they would load the bases. With 2 outs in the inning, catcher Kylee Savant would hit a bases clearing double down the left field line to give Doyle a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lady Giants would get a solo homerun from sophomore Bailey Durham to make it a one run game. But that would be all the Lady Giants would get as Doyle would win the game 4-3.
The Lady Giants would have 4 hits in the game as the 4 hits would be the double from Callie Decker, homeruns from Kaylee Hardie and Bailey Durham and a single from Autumn Sharp. Kiette Cooper would finish with 5 strikeouts in the game.
Even though the Lady Giants were disappointed in the result, they have nothing to hang their heads about as for only the second time in school history the Lady Giants are state runner- ups. The Lady Giants finish the season with 27 wins and were the district champions in one of the best districts in the state.
The Lady Giants work ethic this season has been incredible to watch, and they have been incredible representing Jena High School.
Head coach Sarah Roark and her staff, K.C. Garcia and Mark Andrews, continue to do a great job with the softball program. The Lady Giants will lose senior third basemen Haylee Dangerfield who finishes her career as one of the best power hitters in school history but the Lady Giants will return the rest of their lineup. They will come into next season as the favorite in a very talented Division III Non-select.
Congratulations ladies on another great season.
