Hanson Lady Tigers surge past Vermilion Catholic

Kim Sonnier and Paige Diamond smacked back-to-back solo homers and Sarah Sonnier collected the mound victory as No. 11 seeded Hanson Memorial Lady Tigers defeated No. 22 Vermilion Catholic 15-3 Tuesday in a Class A bidistrict-round playoff game at the HMS Softball Complex.
“I was very proud of the intensity that they brought out,” Coach Brittany Broussard said. “They played like we know we can play, and let’s hope that we play like that the rest of the season.”
Broussard praised her team after they picked up the opening round win in the State Class A playoffs.
“I told them good job, way to play with intensity,” she said. “We practiced like we were playing for the state championship and that’s the way I told them we should play every time. It’s time to show what we can do, let’s go play like we are capable of.”
Broussard credited her team with playing as a unit in earning the playoff victory.
“We played as one unit, when one person got down, we picked them up. We picked them up at the plate, we picked them up everywhere. The pitcher got down, the defense stepped up. It was a great thing to see us play like a team.”
Sonnier picked up another mound win, tossing five complete innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out three with two free passes. Sonnier threw 98 pitches on the day with 58 for strikes.
The Hanson Lady Tigers will advance to play at Grand Lake later this week in the regional round of the State Class A playoffs.
Hanson hitters Kim Sonnier, Paige Diamond and Alyssa Young supported the four-hit pitching of Sarah Sonnier with timely hitting.
Hanson wasted little time in breaking open a scoreless tie with four runs in the bottom half of the first inning for a 4-0 advantage.
Vermilion Catholic managed to pull within two runs of the Lady Tigers at 4-2 in the top half of the second frame.
Hanson responded to Vermilion Catholic’s rally by manufacturing six runs in the bottom half of the second frame for a 10-2 advantage.. Evelyn Pontiff led off the inning with a slap single before she stole second. Alyssa Young lined an infield hit of which she beat out the throw to first base, putting runners in scoring position.
Kimberly Sonnier laced an RBI double to plate Pontiff, giving HMS a 5-2 advantage. Paige Diamond’s pop fly to right field landed as an error as MacKenzie Hebert tagged home plate, sending HMS ahead by a 6-2 margin. Kimberly Sonnier later tagged home plate before Ashley Champagne singled home Diamond as the Lady Tigers held an 8-2 advantage. Sarah Sonnier helped her own cause with a single before giving way to pinch-runner Kaylee Broussard, who later swiped second base. Charlotte Pillaro ran the count to 3-0 before walking to first base to load the bases. Champagne and Broussard later scored to cap the Lady Tigers’ six-run eruption as HMS soared ahead by a 10-2 margin.
Hanson’s Lady Tigers struck for four more runs behind back-to-back solo Hanson went ahead by a 12-2 in grand style off consecutive solo homers by Kimberly Sonnier and Paige Diamond.
Kimberly Sonnier ripped a 2-1 pitch to deep left centerfield for a home run, making it an 11-2 lead for the Lady Tigers.
Paige Diamond stepped to the plate and blasted the first offering she saw for a homer to right centerfield, giving HMS a 12-2 cushion. Pillaro and Broussard later scored to give the Lady Tigers a 14-2 advantage.
Vermilion Catholic scored one run with two outs in the top half of the fifth frame before the game ended with the Hanson Lady
Tigers taking the 14-2 Class A bi-district round victory.
Leading hitters for HMS were: Alyssa Young, 2 for 4, 2 runs; Kimberly Sonnier, 3 for 4, homer, 2 RBI; Paige Diamond, 1 for 3, homer, RBI, 3 runs; MacKenzie Hebert, 1 for 4, 3 RBI, run; Ashley Champagne, 2 for 3, 2 RBI, run; Sarah Sonnier, 2 for 3, RBI; Charlotte Pillaro, 2 walks, run; Kaylee Broussard, 2 for 2, 3 RBI and Evelyn Pontiff, 2 for 3, run, RBI.