The Lady Tigers played St. Freds to close out the regular season last Tuesday, April 14 as they put the final preparations in before post season begins.

The game against St. Freds was a nailbiter of a game but the girls hung on to get the 8-6 win and got some great reps to get ready for their first playoff game. The Lady Tigers built a 7-run lead in the seventh inning and then held off the Lady Warriors’ charge for an 8-6 victory. They got on the board in the top of the second inning after Emma Fenoli singled, scoring one run, Kinley Morris doubled, scoring two runs, and Addy Taylor grounded out, scoring one run.

Landry Long earned the win on the day. The sophomore pitcher surrendered six hits and six runs (zero earned) over seven innings, striking out 11 and walking seven.

Now all eyes will be on the Monday, April 20 game as the #1 Lady Tigers will host #17 ranked Midland as they come to town to try to pull off an upset for the ages. As the number one seed team in Division IV Non-Select, the Lady Tigers received a first-round bye and began their Sulphur march this week. (Check The Jena Times Facebook page for up-to-date playoff information.)

Barring anything wild happening on Monday, the ladies’ quarterfinal game will feature the winner between #8 Dequincy and #9 Montgomery. The winner of that one will come to Olla later in this week.

Looking a bit further ahead (there are many games to play and anything can happen) there is a potential re-match in the works against Logansport in the semifinal round if the Lady Tigers are able to get these next two wins. A rematch of these two district rivals will attract eyeballs across the state. Then after that could (once again possibly) be a state championship matchup against post season rival #2 Oak Grove, if the Lady Tigers can win out on their side of the bracket.

Should the Lady Tigers make it to the state tournament in Sulphur, their semifinal game will be played on Friday, May 1 with the state championship game set for Saturday, May 2.

This is just insight for those keeping up with Division IV Non-Select across the state of how many believe things could play out. However, a word of caution is issued: The beautiful thing about this high school softball is that no one knows what will happen next.

What we do know, however, is that the girls are the defending champs and have a bullseye on their back, but they also have no problem living up to the pressure. As the season began LaSalle was looking to maintain the tradition of winning and competing at the highest-level regarding winning state championships or competing for them year in and year out.

The program has seen success in very high caliber coaches such as Coach Jeff Tannehill and Coach Derek White. If you look at the outfield sign displaying the trophies you can see the long list of championships and accomplishments Coach White achieved. His success throughout his career is something the LaSalle community will forever be thankful for, with his last year being yet another state championship victory.

Coach Todd Long has continued this winning tradition in his first year as head coach, achieving a #1 ranking in his first year as HC. Long is no stranger to success either, being a part of some of those trophies as well as an assistant.

The community is very proud of Coach Long and the girls, and it is important we show that support this week as they look to keep their momentum going in their quest to go back as state champs. Go Lady Tigers!