Patterson 12U softball All-Stars finish 4th at state

The Patterson 12U All-Stars finished fourth at the Louisiana Babe Ruth League state tournament.
Patterson finished 2-2, falling in its first game before winning two elimination games prior to elimination.
“I’m very proud of the way our girls played,” Patterson coach Patrick Skiles said. “They battled back hard through the loser’s bracket and showed tremendous character and gave great effort all the way to the end.”
While his squad dropped games to Jefferson Parish’s East and West squads, he said his team was able to compete with them. He noted that Patterson has 40 youngsters in its entire 12U program, while Jefferson Parish had more than 100 girls each in its east and west leagues.
“We were very competitive with them,” Skiles said.
In its tournament opener, Patterson fell to Jefferson Parish’s East squad, 8-3.
Jefferson Parish broke open a close game in the bottom of the fourth with five runs to turn a 3-2 lead into an 8-2 advantage.
Deja Dugar suffered the loss. In four innings, she surrendered eight runs and fanned one.
Offensively, Hailey Skiles, Alyssa Perkins and Emily Melvin each scored a run.
Patterson bounced back with a 16-2 victory against Iberville in four innings.
The local squad jumped out big early, scoring nine runs in the first inning.
Kaylee Craddock and Hillary Pillaro each scored three runs to lead Patterson. Other offensive contributors included Alexis Bernadou, Mikah Ortiz and Ana Vaccarella, two runs apiece; and Skiles, Dugar, Melvin and Maggie Lemoine, a run apiece.
Dugar earned the win, pitching three scoreless innings. She fanned seven.
Patterson won its second-straight contest with a 7-6 victory against St. Charles in eight innings.
Patterson rallied in its final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth for three runs to tie the game at 6 and force extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Katelyn Fabre scored the winning run on Craddock’s base hit.
Craddock scored two runs in the victory. Ortiz, Fabre, Kylia Gregory, Pillaro and Perkins each contributed a run.
Pillaro earned the win in relief. In four innings, she only gave up one run. She had two strikeouts.
Dugar started the contest, and in four innings, she surrendered five runs and fanned four.
Patterson was eliminated from the tournament, falling 8-1 to Jefferson Parish’s West squad.
While Patterson trailed just 3-1 after three innings, Jefferson Parish’s West squad scored three runs in the fourth inning to pull away.
Dugar suffered the loss. In four innings, she surrendered six runs and had two strikeouts.
Craddock scored Patterson’s lone run.