Trahan's gem seals Lady Dogs' fate in 3-0 loss

SULPHUR -  Abbey Trahan is a name the Iota Lady Bullodgs would just as soon never hear again.
Trahan, Kaplan’s ace hurler, gave up just three hits and struck out 14 Friday as the Lady Pirates blanked the Lady Dogs, 3-0, in a Class 3A quarterfinal contest at Frasch Park.
It marked the second year in a row that Trahan shut out Iota in the quarterfinals. In 2015,  she threw a two-hitter and struck out eight in an 8-0 victory.
“When you don’t score, you can’t win a ballgame,” said Iota coach Leah Andrus following the loss. “I think we battled. We had more base hits (off her) than we did last year and we competed. We came in and we were ready, but that kid (Trahan) is good.
“We had good quality at bats.; Nobody  was just defeated when they stepped in the box,  so that’s all you can ask for.”
Iota’s Cameron Crochet also had a good day in the circle. The Louisiana College signee gave up just six hits while striking out five.
“We knew coming in that whoever hit the ball was going to win, just like in every game, and when you have good pitching like today, that’s what it takes,” said Andrus. “I couldn’t ask any for anything more from Cameron. She’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever seen and she pitched well enough to win today.”
  Kaplan got on the board in the second inning courtesy of three hits and a hit batter.
  Crochet plunked Jennifer Faulk to start the second frame and eight-hole hitter Kenzie Gaspard promptly moved her to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Dawn Bruton then singled and Megan Hebert recorded an infield single to lead the bases.   Two-hole hitter Alexa Lege pushed across the first run one batter later when she hit an RBI single to left field and Trahan followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Lady Pirates a 2-0 advantage.
Iota recorded its first hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning when Shydee Johnson singled to center. She advanced all the way around to third before Trahan got out of the potential jam with her eighth punch out of the day.
Johnson collected her second hit of the game in the top of the sixth inning, a single to left center field, but she was left stranded at second base following a fielder’s choice for the final out.
Kaplan added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Hebert reached base on another infield single and eventually scored on a passed ball.
Trahan struck out the first two batters she faced in the top of the seventh before Teri Johnson reached base on an infield single of her own.
Hopes of a late rally were dashed quickly, however, as the Kaplan standout struck out the next batter to end the game.
Shydee Johnson had two of Iota’s three hits while Teri Johnson had the other.
Hebert and Lege had two hits each to lead the Lady Pirates while Bruton and Olivia Trahan each added a single.