Lady Panthers lose in first-round playoff game

THIBODAUX — Berwick’s offense ran into a roadblock on the mound, while its defense faltered late in a 10-0 run-rule loss to E.D. White in six innings in Class 3A Bi-District playoff action Tuesday.
No. 23 Berwick could not get a hit off E.D. White’s Avery Sanders in the contest.
Meanwhile, the No. 10 Lady Cardinals scored a combined eight runs during the last three innings, using its hits and Berwick errors, to end the ball game.
Berwick coach Lloyd Burchfield said his team didn’t do enough things right to secure a victory.
“We didn’t get a base hit,” Burchfield said. “Maybe we only got four or five baserunners. They swung the bat very well. I’m surprised at the outcome. I expected better. I thought we would play better.
“I thought we’d win. I really did, but it wasn’t our day. We just didn’t do what we needed. I don’t know how many errors we had — half a dozen or more. You put that together (with) the way they hit the ball, and the fact that we just don’t score, nothing good’s going to come out of that,” Burchfield said.
The journey to the final outcome Tuesday was quite different from the team’s matchup on March 31 in Berwick in which E.D. White (15-6) rallied from a 6-4 deficit in the top of the seventh for an eventual 7-6 win and the District 9-3A championship.
On Tuesday, E.D. White scored a run each in the first two innings before breaking the game open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth.
E.D. White coach Marcey Zeringue said she was proud of her team.
“They worked extremely hard,” she said. “They’ve been preparing for this game since we found out who we were playing, and they came out today and they were ready to play.”
In the bottom of the first, Kali Clement led off the Cardinals’ half of the inning with a single, followed by a bunt single by Triston Gros.
However, on Gros’ single, Clement was safe on a throw to third base.
On the same play, Gros stood between first and second base, baiting the Berwick defense, and while she was thrown out at first base on a throw over, Clement took off for home plate and scored for a 1-0 E.D. White lead.
The home team added another run in the bottom of the second when Anna Rodenberg grounded out to Berwick shortstop Jordan Lipari.
While the run scored, Lipari made a nice double play, tagging out a runner on her way to third base before throwing to second baseman Shelby Bergeron to get Rodenberg out at second base.
E.D. White’s success at the plate was equaled by Sanders’ pitching and the Lady Cardinals’ defense.
While Berwick (13-18) got its first two baserunners on in the first inning, they couldn’t do anything with them. Shannon Theriot was thrown out trying to steal second base and Clement snared a ball hit by Lipari, stepped on second base to get Bergeron out and then threw to first to complete a double play.
Sanders retired the Lady Panthers in order in the second through fourth innings, striking out the side in the third.
She also got out of a fifth-inning jam with two on and no outs.
“The defense was amazing,” Zeringue said. “I think that we might have made one mistake. Our pitcher, she was phenomenal. She did an amazing job.”
In six innings of work on the mound, Sanders surrendered just three walks and fanned five.
Ahead 2-0 Tuesday, E.D. White plated five runs in the bottom of the fourth, utilizing Berwick errors and its hitting.
After runners reached and advanced to second and third base, respectively, on back-to-back Berwick errors, Scout Blades drove a run in on a single to left field.
Rodenberg followed with a connection to center field to score another run for a 4-0 advantage.
E.D. White added another run via a Gros single to left field before Burchfield replaced starter Rennen DeLatte with relief pitcher Sydney Aucoin.
E.D. White would score two more runs before the inning concluded for a 7-0 lead.
The Lady Cardinals would add a run in the bottom of the fifth before scoring two in the bottom of the sixth for the final margin.
Burchfield, who announced earlier this season he would be retiring after this season, his 24th at Berwick High School, said he felt blessed to be at Berwick for as long as he was and to have a small place in his player’s lives.
“I’m the one that’s been enriched,” he said. “Lucky to be able to do what I did for that long.”
Tuesday’s game was the final one for Berwick’s five seniors — DeLatte, Bergeron, Theriot, Caroline Osburn and McKenzie Baumgartner.
“My seniors, they did all I asked,” Burchfield said. “They were good leaders. Class individuals.”
E.D. White will return to action Thursday when it travels to face No. 7 seed Brusly, a 7-4 winner against No. 26 St. Louis in other first-round action Tuesday.
--By GEOFF STOUTE
gstoute@daily-review.com