Lady Warriors ride Allen's pitching, timely hitting to upset Maurepas

 SULPHUR - The Northside Christian Lady Warriors pieced together a complete game in every phase Friday and the end result was a 4-3 upset of  Class C’s No. 2-seeded Lady Wolves of Maurepas in a quarterfinal contest at Frasch Park.
  For the Lady Warriors, it started on the field with a stellar pitching performance from Angel Allen and extended to superb defense across the board.
  The Lady Warriors committed just one error behind Allen, who allowed only three hits and four walks while striking out one.
  “Our defense and pitching won the game for us today,” said NCS coach Ryan Hanagriff. “They (Maurepas) had some really nice hits and we made some really nice plays in the outfield, and, really, all over. Our defense kept us in the game and Angel really threw well. She was really hitting her spots and she was just able to keep them off balance.”
  Not to be outdone, Northside’s offense was up to the challenge as well.
  Lady Wolves’ hurler McKenna Lessard limited the Lady Warriors to just six hits, but all of them were huge.
  Allen, collected the first knock off Lessard in the first inning, a single to left field. She scored two batters later on another single by Brooke Stanford.
Kathryn Zaunbrecher brought the fans to their feet three innings later after a leadoff walk to Zera Hanagriff. Zaunbrecher, the Lady Warriors’ senior catcher, drove a 1-2 offering from Lessard over the right field wall to put NCS up 3-0.
  The Lady Wolves answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame when Kaylynn Vicknair got hold of an Allen fastball for a home run.
  Vicknair singled in another run in the sixth inning and Braille Gautreaux, who walked, scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 3-all.
  The Lady Warriors took the lead for good in the top of the seventh inning when Allen singled and scored on another RBI single by Stanford.
  The Lady Wolves threatened in the bottom of the frame and had the tying run at third base when Allen coaxed Gautreaux into a flyout to end the game.
  “I thought we swung it pretty well and we got some timely hits both early in the game and late in the game,” said Hanagriff. “And then we got into a little trouble in the bottom of the seventh, but we were able to pitch ourselves out of it.”
  The victory sent the Lady Warriors to the semifinal round yesterday. It is the third straight year that Northside Christian has advanced this far.
  “When you walk in these gates, the energy and the excitement....it’s just an unbelievable atmosphere and the girls know that they have to play,” said Hanagriff. “Fortunately, we’ve gotten hot at the right time the last couple years and it was the same way this year. Once the playoffs began, we just started playing well, hitting the ball well and we’ve been getting good pitching.
  “These girls are fired up and they give it their all. They leave it all on the field.”