Ouachita tops Dominican in 5A playoff opener

Ouachita softball coach Tim Whitman knew that getting his young Lady Lions off to a good start in the postseason would be crucial to the team’s success.

Consider it done.

Fielding four freshman, including pitcher Destiny Lilley, No. 4 Ouachita defeated No. 29 Dominican 7-3 in the first-round of the LHSAA Class 5A playoffs.

Ouachita, the defending state champions, trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning before a two-run home run by Tiya Randle gave the team the lead back.

Ouachita continued to separate itself from the visitors with an Alyssa Allen homer, an RBI triple by Randle and two-run single by Caycee Shaw.

Dominican scratched across one more run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Bella Brocato, but that would be as close as things would get.

“We talked about keeping our hands on top at the plate,” Whitman said. “We wanted to get the ball out there and make people make plays. We had some ground balls that got through. That is what you want to do. It wasn’t perfect but it was a good win.”

Sarah Helmstetter hit a two-run home run in the third inning to give Domincan the lead briefly. Dominican left runners stranded in the inning as Lilley got back on track.

“We couldn’t sustain the momentum like Ouachita did,” Dominican coach Glenn Melville said. “(Ouachita) won the game, I don’t feel like we gave the game away. They had some opportunities and they came up big.”

Lilley, making her first playoff appearance , gave up just one run in the final four innings and pitched a complete game.

“She made some rally good pitches,” Whitman said of Lilley. “She made some freshman-in-her-first playoff game pitches too, you could say. But for her first playoff game she did a good job. She gave herself a chance.”

Ouachita will be back at home Friday or Saturday for the second round of the playoffs. Ouachita will host the winner of No. 13 Alexandria versus No. 20 Destrehan. A new rule by the LHSAA this year allows for the higher seed to playoff the second-round at home regardless of the other team being home or away the previous round.

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