St. Patrick and D’Iberville played softball Tuesday night for the second time in less than a week.
And both games had one thing in common—dominant pitching performances by Emma Franklin.
After striking out 10 St. Patrick batters last Thursday night at home, the sophomore struck out 16 on the road as her Lady Warriors cruised to a 9-1 victory.
In sports, performances like this always highlight an athlete being “in the zone.” There is no doubt Franklin lived in that zone Tuesday.
“She pitched a very good game tonight,” said D’Iberville coach Scooter Prince. “I’m talking about she was on, hitting her spots and they really couldn’t do anything with her.”
So, in five days, Franklin, who just moved here this year from Slidell, struck out 26 Lady Irish batters. When asked about her performance, her answer sounded like she was still in the zone.
“I like to have control of the field whenever I’m pitching and when I have most of my pitches working, it feels powerful,” she said.
She must do this a lot because when asked if this was her most strikeouts in a game, she said she would have to check her stats from Slidell. Mississippi Gulf Coast softball batters, beware.
The game was tight for four innings as both teams played great defense.
D’Iberville started the scoring in the first when, after Maddie Porter’s leadoff single, the senior star stole second and was knocked in by catcher Annah Nicely, the first of her four RBIs on the night.
St. Patrick pitcher Allee Bennett battled and pitched well throughout those four innings. She ended up taking the loss, but she went six innings and her coach, Ted Williams, appreciated not only her effort but his entire team’s.
“We really played well early and I was proud of the girls,” he said. “We’re really young. We have an eighth-grade catcher (Sophia Oehms) and also ended the game with a seventh-grade pitcher, Peyton Parks.
“We are trying to build a program here and we know the only way we’re going to get better is to play better teams. This is one of the best pitchers we will face, but when we start playing teams in our district, we will be better prepared.”
Not only did 3A St. Patrick play the 7A Lady Warriors twice in a short period, they also played 6A Hancock. Parks, the seventh-grader, was the only player who didn’t strike out against Franklin.
Franklin kept St. Patrick in check by striking out the side in the first two innings. However, St. Patrick’s defense, including plays by second baseman Addyson Duprey and third baseman Zoriah Martin, kept the score 1-0 heading into the fifth. This is when D’Iberville took over.
With one out, Porter drilled a single to left, and after a Kayla Barnes walk and double steal, was knocked in by Franklin. Then Nicely knocked in two more and her courtesy runner, Kaelyn McKenzie, ended up scoring to stretch the lead to 5-1. It was all Franklin needed as she struck out the side in the fifth and had two K’s in the next two innings to seal it.
St. Patrick put a little pressure on the Lady Warriors defense when Parks reached on an error and scored on another error when Duprey put the ball in play to third. Because of that, Franklin had no earned run.
Tara Nasakaitis led the Lady Irish with two hits.
Porter was on base three out of four tries for D’Iberville and led the team with three runs scored. She continues to bat over .500 for the season.
Piper Rushing contributed three RBIs, including a two-run double in the seventh. Olivia Drieling knocked her in to end the scoring for the Lady Warriors.
The Lady Warriors (6-2) will host Theodore, Ala., on Thursday before heading to Satsuma, Ala., to face Leroy and Faith Academy.
Coincidentally, St. Patrick (5-3) will also be part of the day in Satsuma, playing the same two schools at different times.
