Hanson Lady Tigers pull off dramatic state playoff victory

The yell of “Go! Go! Go!” heard late Friday evening could be heard around the city as Hanson Memorial High School Coach Brittany Broussard yelled instructions to Lady Tiger Alyssa Young as the HMS Lady Tigers pulled off a dramatic 1-0 eight-inning victory over the Quachita Christian School Lady Eagles at the HMS Girls Softball Complex.
Broussard was telling Hanson Lady Tiger Alyssa Young to run to home plate to score the game-winning run, sending the Lady Tigers to a 1-0 victory and a berth back to the AllState Sugar Bowl/LHSAA Fast Pitch 56 State Softball Tournament at Frasch Park in Sulphur on Friday.
“All I could tell her was Go!, Go!, Go!,” Brossard said. “Once I saw the ball go over her head, all I could say was Go! Go! Go!”
For eight solid innings, the two State Class A Softball powerhouses stood toe-to-toe for as Hanson starting pitcher Sarah Sonnier outdueled QCS’s Katie Cobb in the circle.
Sonnier earned the victory after shutting out the Lady Eagles for eight innings, facing 31 batters, not allowing a run while giving up seven hits with seven strikeouts and only one walk.
In the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Hanson Lady Tigers broke the deadlock in the most improbable way .
Young, who reached first base by beating out an infield hit in the lead off position, advanced to second on a Paige Diamond’s grounder. Young went to third on a wild pitch, leading to OCS Coach Britni Head to call time out and discuss possible strategy with Young in standing at third and the Lady Tigers in position to snatch a last-season victory.
Young slapped a 1-2 pitch to short stop before beating out the throw to first base. Paige Diamond lined a shot to first base of which was bobbled, sending Young to second base. With Lady Tiger Madeline Weber in the box, Young raced to third base on a wild pitch.
A short time later, with Sarah Sonnier standing in the batter’s box, Cobb uncorked a high wild pitch which enabled Young to tag home plate on the wild pitch to send the Lady Tigers back to the State Tournament for the second straight year.
On the biggest play of the day, Quachita Christian pitcher Cobb threw a high pitch to the plate over catcher Carlye Rothschild’s outstretched hands. Rothchild rushed to the backstop in hopes of grabbing the baseball and making a play at the plate.
Young heeded the command of coach Broussard, racing to home plate from third base before Rothschild could make a throw to Cobb, who was covering home plate.
Young slid and was safe at home plate and when the dust settled, the Hanson Lady Tigers were headed back to the State Tournament in back-to-back years.
Defensively, both teams played turned in all-star caliber performances.
Quachita Christian ended up with more base runners than the Hanson Lady Tigers but the final results had HMS winning the game by a nailing-biting 1-0 score in the bottom half of the eighth inning.
The game ended in a scoreless knot at the end of seven innings with both teams turing in stellar defensive plays.
Broussard reminded her players of the fact that they had to fight for their lives in order to make it back to Sulphur.
“They were awesome on defense and we were getting the bat on the ball but it was always right at their players who made the play,” Broussard said. “We were playing awesome defense too and I told them we were going to have to fight for our lives in order to go back to Sulphur.
The Lady Tigers turned in a superb performance which turned into an incredible 1-0 eight inning victory over the OCS Lady Eagles.
Young went 2 for 4 with the game-winning run to lead the Lady Tigers. Paige Diamond was 2 for 3 while Noel Baker also went 2 for 3. Lunden Verdin was 1 for 2 while Charlotte Pillaro was also 1 for 2. Sarah Sonnier helped her own cause with a 2 for 3 outing.
Hanson’s defense supported the outstanding pitching effort from Sarah Sonnier by not committing an error while all fielders turned in a 1.000 percent fielding in the final stats.
Hanson Memorial will take on the winner of the winner of the Cedar Creek-St. John contest in the quarterfinals on Friday at 2 p.m. at Frasch Park in Sulphur in the State Tournament.