Berwick to face Pine Prairie Saturday in 3A first-round action

It’s postseason time, meaning it’s a new season for the Berwick High School Lady Panthers.
That means everything that has happened in the regular season can be erased from their memories when Berwick, the No. 25 seed in the Class 3A postseason, takes the long trip to central Louisiana to take on No. 8 Pine Prairie in a 6 p.m. contest Saturday.
For Berwick, after a solid start to the season in which the Lady Panthers won five of their first seven games, the middle and end of the season has been tough.
A tough schedule coupled with a tough district has produced a 10-15 overall record, including a 5-7 mark in District 8-3A.
Berwick lost their last four games, two run-rule losses and two others by a combined three runs.
Fortunately for the team, none of that matters now.
“We went through a really hard schedule,” first-year Berwick coach Heather Templet said. “We started off great. We had our ups and our downs. We just need to really work on being more consistent throughout a game. A lot of games, we’re playing half games, and we’re just not finishing, so looking into the playoffs, we got to be able to finish each game.”
Templet said she thinks her district prepared her team. She noted the district qualified five teams for the postseason. Of those, two are in the top four in Class 3A — No. 2 North Vermilion and No. 4 Kaplan, who finished last season as state runner-up.
Things weren’t all bad in the Lady Panthers current four-game skid. Against E.D. White, a five-run sixth by the Lady Cardinals sunk Berwick, who led 6-2 entering the bottom of the sixth.
Against Central Catholic, Berwick rallied with five runs in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t complete the comeback in a 9-7 loss.
Regardless of what happened in the regular season, though, Templet agreed the Lady Panthers just need to erase it from their memory and realize the postseason is a new season.
“Nothing matters except for being the best team that day,” she said.
The Lady Panthers first-round opponent, Pine Prairie, enters the postseason with a 24-5 overall mark. The squad finished 9-1 in District 5-3A, tied with Church Point for the district’s top spot.
Pine Prairie won its first 19 games this season before falling 3-2 to Winnfield in Tioga’s tournament April 1. Winnfield is the No. 5 seed in the Class 3A postseason.
Each of Pine Prairie’s five losses has been by a run.
“I know they’re a really good hitting team,” Templet said. “Their pitcher, she’s a pretty good little pitcher. Not overpowering. Kind of like a bunch of pitchers we’ve seen this year.”