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Kate Clements

Lady Bears knock off LSU-Eunice and Northwest for spot in Region 23 bracket championship

| By: By Cody Junkin
Kate Clements
After falling to Co-Lin on Sunday, Southwest Softball beat LSU-Eunice 9-4 and Northwest 9-7 in back to back games on Monday, May 4th to secure their spot in the bracket championship of the Region 23 Tournament.

Offense was the name of the game for the Lady Bears who hit 4 homeruns against LSUE.

Alexis Dejean, Allie Ladnier, Corin Talbot, and homerun leader Tristan Allen all homered against the Bengals.

Allie Ladnier pitched a complete game against LSUE with 1 strikeout and only 4 runs allowed.

After knocking off the Bengals, the Lady Bears got an hour of rest before taking on the Northwest Rangers.

Southwest picked up right where they left off coming into the first inning with the bats hot.

The Lady Bears put up a 4-run first inning highlighted by yet another Tristan Allen homerun, her 22nd of the season.

With Southwest up 4-0 after the first, Kate Clements singled in the second on a ball that hit the pitcher and scored Lauryn Roebuck to push the Lady Bear lead to 5-0.

A pitching change for the Rangers led to a few scoreless innings for Southwest and let Northwest close the gap to 5-4 still favoring Southwest.

The Lady Bears got their mojo back in the top of the sixth when an Allie Ladnier single scored Madalyn Ashford and Lauryn Roebuck to give Southwest a 7-4 edge over the Rangers.

They followed suit in the top of the seventh with another 2 runs that came on another Tristan Allen bomb, her 23rd of the season and 3rd of the day, that put the Lady Bear lead up to 5 runs at 9-4.

The Rangers began to rally with two homers of their own in the bottom of the seventh to bring the score to 9-7 but fell short after an incredible catch by Madalyn Ashford in center killed their momentum.

The final batter popped out to Tristan Allen at third base to close out the game and secure the Lady Bear win and their spot in a rematch versus Co-Lin in the bracket championship.

Allie Ladnier started the game for the Lady Bears by pitching the first 2.0 innings and finished it by coming back in for the final two outs, giving Ladnier the win and the save for the game.

Mary Claire Salley pitched 2.0 innings with 1 strikeout and only 2 runs allowed.

Ballard Kraft also pitched 2.1 innings with 1 strikeout and only 2 runs allowed.

The Lady Bear offense found the right time to heat up with 22 hits on the day, 11 in each game, and 6 homeruns on the day, 3 coming from Tristan Allen.

Tristan Allen led the team with 3 homeruns and 5 RBIs on the day to help secure Southwest Softball's second and third ever playoff wins.

"We just believed in these kids, and these kids believed in what they wanted to do. It's been a special season with a special group. Getting a chance to finish top four in our conference is tremendous," said Head Coach Shea Johnson, "we've sent home more ranked teams than we ever have and had to come a long way in. I can't say enough about the kids. They have worked and worked and worked. And it has paid off."

"I can't thank the good Lord enough. Everyone that's involved. The parents, the families, my coaches and everything they've done. I just get to drive it," said Coach Johnson, "if I didn't have the two assistants I have and the girls I have, I couldn't do it. Anyone can get behind them and put the cruise control on with a group like this. This group is special. When we hit the ball, there's nobody that can stop us."

"What a special kid. Tristan's up and she can hit it out of the yard at any time, and bam there it went again. How big was that to get the two runs we needed," said Coach Johnson on the impact Tristan Allen brings to the offense.

"It makes me feel really good. It was a rough time last year going through my back injury. Just being able to come back after six months of not touching a ball and being able to do what I'm doing now and being able to perform for my team is a big thing," said Allie Ladnier after beating LSU-Eunice and Northwest.

The Lady Bears will play Co-Lin on Tuesday, May 5th at 4:00 in the bracket championship and must win twice to advance to the Regional Championship.
 
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