One big inning enough for Kinder, five-run fourth lifts Jackets to win
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, March 22, 2023
- Rodrick Anderson / American Press Kinder’s Cicily Hill scores on a passed ball during the fourth inning of a District 3-3A softball game against St. Louis Catholic on Tuesday at Cowgirl Diamond. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
Kinder’s bats were quiet early in the game, but the Yellow Jackets came around in the fourth inning and held on to beat St. Louis Catholic 6-3 Tuesday at Cowgirl Diamond to stay atop District 3-3A.
“On a night where our hitting seemed to be a little mixed up and not perfect on defense, we did enough,” Kinder head coach Haley Landry said. “We did what we needed to do and put enough on the board to where we knew we could finish it out.”
St. Louis (9-7, 1-1) starter Claire Mellard had seven strikeouts through three innings, but the Yellow Jackets adjusted in the fourth inning to score five runs on three hits and aided by two errors.
Senior Megan Fuselier and sophomore Bri Fontenot accounted for two-thirds of the Yellow Jackets’ (15-6, 2-0) nine hits. Fuselier went 3-for-4 with a pair of extra-base hits, including a two-run triple with two outs in the fourth inning that put the Yellow Jackets up 5-1. Fontenot went 3-for-4 and scored the tying run on an error in the fourth inning.
“They have been so consistent and dependable,” Landry said of Fuselier and Fontenot. “They are going to hit balls hard. That is why they are up there, and that is what they do.”
Sam Hayes scored the go-ahead run on an error.
Kinder had fielding problems of its own in the third inning as back-to-back errors on infield groundballs allowed Katie Wilfer to score and put the Saints up 1-0. Wilfer scored all of the Saints’ runs.
Kinder has won eight of its last nine games, which Landry attributes to the offense, but she says wants more consistency.
“Our bats have really come around,” she said. “Our defense remains steady and pitching. Our bats seem to be the difference in the run that we have been on.
“I think we just need to work on the consistency with our bats. We know they are there. There are not too many people out there that should hold us down, but we have to make sure that we do what we are supposed to do and what we are good at.”
Kinder shares the lead in District 3-3A with South Beauregard (12-8, 2-0), which beat Lake Charles College Prep 19-3 on Tuesday.
