Walker High’s Caitlyn Riche'
WALKER – Walker’s Alexa Villar had a feeling something good was about to happen for Caitlyn Riche’ and the Lady Cats heading into the bottom of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s District 5-5A game against Live Oak.
Villar was right.
Riche’ hit a two-run home run to center field, snapping a tie, to lift Walker to an 8-6 win over the Eagles at Randy Bradshaw Field.
“Before that at-bat, Alexa told me, ‘I feel it down in my gut that you’re fixing to hit one,” Riche’ said. “I went up to bat, and I was like, ‘Just do your thing’, and it just goes over.”
The win helped Walker bounce back from a 15-5 loss to East Ascension last week. The Lady Cats are 9-4 overall and 2-1 in district play while sitting at No. 7 in the Division I non-select power rankings by geauxpreps.com.
“I think it’s a great win to teach our girls to have the confidence in themselves that they can play this game, because we’re young in a lot of different positions, and they’re just now getting used to playing next to each other,” Walker coach Hali Westmoreland said. “They have the skill set. It’s getting used to playing next to one another and trusting each other and just doing the little things right.”
Meanwhile, Live Oak, No. 1 in the power ratings, lost its first game of the season after rallying from a 6-0 deficit.
“Today’s the first day we’ve had to pay for our mistakes,” Live Oak coach Katie Prescott said after the Eagles dropped to 17-1 and 2-1 in district play. The last 17 games, we haven’t had to pay for it. We’ve gotten away with them. It’s unfortunate for the program. It’s unfortunate for the kids, but it’s one game, so I expect us to come back and play Live Oak softball. Play tough, play hard, play for one another for the rest of the year.”
Villar’s single past second with one out set up the game-winning home run by Riche’, who had a solo home run to center field earlier in the game.
Walker’s Hannah Capello retired the Eagles in order in the top of the seventh to seal the win.
Live Oak started its comeback in the top of the fifth as Haleigh Cushingberry led off with a single and scored when Chloe Magee doubled down the third-base line.
With one out, Kayce Bennett hit a two-run home run to left field, cutting the lead to 6-3. It was Bennett’s 11th home run of the season.
Kameran Kent followed with a single to right field, and Jeanne Janise had a two-out double, but Kent was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
“I’ve never doubted our team’s ability to fight,” Prescott said. “I believe that our team is capable of putting up crooked numbers every inning if we all do our jobs, but it really didn’t fall our way. We made too many mistakes, and Walker did a good job of capitalizing on all of our mistakes. I don’t think we got away with anything tonight. So I think it’s a very humbling game. I mean, Walker deserved to win, but our girls also never gave up. I think that shows a lot about our program, a lot about our players as individuals, even more so just about the team as a whole.”
Walker got three hits in the bottom of the fifth but had a runner thrown out at the plate and stranded two without scoring.
Live Oak tied the game in the top of the sixth when Kaylee Chandler led off with a walk, and KK Alello followed with a bunt single.
Cushingberry lofted a ball to short left field, which Walker’s Kyley Morris ran in and made a diving catch on, then threw to second to double up Live Oak courtesy runner Dimiaya Dunn.
Magee reached on an error at shortstop, and AK Phillips followed with a three-run home run to center field to knot the game at 6-6.
“The home runs got us in it, but we’re not just a home run-hitting team,” Prescott said. “We like to manufacture runs. We want to be good in all facets. Unfortunately, we weren’t good in the other facets of the game today, and that’s what you get. That’s not Live Oak softball – not just hitting home runs. We want to be able to steal. We want to be able to bunt. We want to be able to slash. Their pitcher did a good job of keeping us off balance, and we’ve got to tip our cap to her for getting us out of our game plan.”
Bennett drew an intentional walk and Kent singled before Raelee Clark’s fly ball to left ended the inning.
Riche’ started the scoring with a two-out solo home run to center in the first inning that went off Cushingberry’s glove.
“Even before that, our energy was up, but I think that just set us up knowing that we can hit the ball and we’ll be fine,” Riche’ said after going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs.
Live Oak loaded the bases in the top of the second but had a runner picked off at third and another thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Walker padded the lead in the second as a bases-loaded walk to Alana Dossey made the score 2-0. Villar’s line-drive single off Live Oak starter Chandler’s foot drove in another run and resulted in Prescott bringing in Phillips in the circle for the remainder of the game.
The Lady Cats picked up three more runs in the inning, with two scoring when a pickoff throw to first went into the outfield and another when a pop fly was misplayed.
Capello gave up 13 hits, six runs and walked two with one strikeout in a complete game win.
“Our defense behind Hannah played really, really well tonight, and I had girls seeing the ball tonight,” Westmoreland said. “They were hitting well. That’s what we preach to them every single day – you do the little things right and you hit the ball, good things will happen.”
Chandler gave up four hits, six runs, two walks and struck out one in 1.2 innings. Phillips gave up six hits, two runs, no walks and struck out two in 4.1 innings of relief.
“I think she’s OK,” Prescott said of Chandler. “She could have went back in and pitched. We just felt like AK was doing a good enough job for us to win. She threw up a couple of zeroes and we were just kind of going with the hot hand right there. Chandler was still able to hit. She had two hits and drew a leadoff walk, so she was doing her job there, but then I just had to burn her because I didn’t want her to run and put her in a situation she didn’t need to be in.
“I thought AK threw good enough for us to win,” Prescott continued. “Unfortunately, that bottom of the sixth, we left one up, and KK made us pay for it.”
Villar went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, Payten Gordon was 2-for-4 and Morris was 2-for-4 with a run.
Kent, Janise, Chandler and Cushingberry each had two hits for Live Oak. Magee scored two runs, while Alello and Cushingberry each scored one.
“When we came into this game, we knew that Live Oak, they hit well, they’re fast, and they’re coached well, so you’ve got to do the little things right,” Westmoreland said. “You have to hit the ball well to be successful whenever you play them.”
