Leesville edged MCHS, 5-4

The top of the fifth inning in Saturday’s Class 4A regional round playoff game was good for Morgan City as it erased a 1-0 deficit to Leesville for a 3-1 lead.
However, the bottom of the fifth was even kinder to Leesville as the home team responded with four runs and held off Morgan City in the top of the seventh for a 5-4 victory.
Morgan City coach Tamara Keller said her message to her team after the game was that Morgan City, Class 4A’s No. 13 seed, showed it belonged in the game with No. 4 Leesville.
“There’s no reason to hang a head after a game like that, after a season like that,” Keller said. “Nobody expected us to be here, including myself, and I wanted them to know that they exceeded every expectation that I had of them and more.”
Trailing 1-0 entering the top of the fifth, Morgan City scored two runs via Kennedy Hebert’s single to left field. Hebert came around to score for a 3-1 lead after an errant throw went into center field.
“I think we started off a little slow at the plate,” Keller said of the beginning of the game. “We were nervous. You could tell they were nervous, but once we started to hit the ball, they got a little confident, and we put the pressure on them.”
Leesville, however, would rally in the bottom of the fifth with two outs when Lauren Kreyenbuhl connected on a double to the left field wall that scored two runs for a 4-3 Leesville lead.
Leesville added another run when a pitch by Hebert got by Morgan City catcher Scottie Metrejean.
“I think Ken got a little over-excited in that inning, and so we put their two fastest kids on base,” Keller said, adding her team got “a little tight in the moment.”
Morgan City cut its deficit to 5-4 in the top of the seventh on a two-out line drive solo home run by Hebert over the centerfield fence, but the Lady Tigers could get no closer.
Leesville scored the game’s first run when Keke Poteat connected on a two-out triple to left field.
Madelyn Phillips pitched a complete game for the victory. In seven innings, the freshman surrendered four runs — three earned — on five hits with one hit batter and five strikeouts.
Hebert, a sophomore, suffered the loss. In six innings, she surrendered five earned runs on seven hits with four walks, one hit batter and eight strikeouts.
Hebert led Morgan City with a 3-for-4 performance with a home run, a double, two RBIs and two runs.
Poteat led Leesville with a 1-for-2 performance with a triple, an RBI and a run, while Kreyenbuhl was 1-for-1 with a double, two RBIs and a run. Other top contributors included Zakayla Collins, 2-for-4, a run; and Taylor Sturm, 1-for-3, an RBI.
Leesville outhit Morgan City 7-5, and the Wampus Cats overcame four errors for the victory.
Morgan City concludes its season with a 15-7 mark, while Leesville improves to 21-6 and will face No. 5 Neville in the Class 4A quarterfinals Friday in Sulphur at the state softball tournament.