Round 3: District rivals Barbe, Sam Houston meet with trip to state tournament at stake
Published 3:30 pm Saturday, April 24, 2021
Rodrick Anderson
No. 3 Barbe and No. 6 Sam Houston shared the District 3-5A softball title this season, but there will be no sharing this time around.
The teams will meet for the third time this season at 3:30 p.m. today at Barbe High School in a high-stakes quarterfinal game for a spot in the Class 5A semifinals and the state tournament in Sulphur next week.
“We are ready,” Barbe head coach Candyce Carter said. “We are excited.
“It should be a great crowd and a great matchup. I think that the team that shows up is going to be the one that takes home the victory.”
Both teams have been on a tear lately with the Bucs (28-2) winning 25 of their last 26 games while Sam Houston (26-5) has won 14 of their last 15.
The game will feature a pair of powerful offenses and two of the top pitchers in Southwest Louisiana in Barbe’s Halie Pappion and Sam Houston’s Lexi Dibbley. Neither has allowed an earned run in the postseason.
In the regular season, Barbe won the first game 12-5, but Dibbley pitched a shutout to lead the Broncos to a 8-0 win in the rematch.
Sam Houston head coach Beth Domigue said the key for the Broncos will be staying loose to avoid the pressure of the game becoming too much.
“We just have to be relaxed and play ball,” Domingue said. “I feel like if we keep playing well and having fun, I expect it to be a good game.
“I just really want them to compete. We can’t make the moment too big.”
Kylie Dehart and Nyjah Fontenot have been at the forefront of the Bucs’ offense in the postseason, accounting for eight runs and 10 RBIs.
Sam Houston had 16 hits in its 11-1 regional win over Live Oak, led by Erin Ardoin, Dibbley and Brylie Fontenot, who accounted for nine hits and seven RBIs.
Elsewhere
In Class 3A, No. 4 Iowa is looking for its first trip to the state tournament since 2012.
Like the Bucs and Broncos, the Yellow Jackets will face a familiar foe in the quarterfinals in No. 11 Iota (17-11) at 3 p.m. today.
Iowa (24-5) won the first game 7-4, but head coach Kenzie Singletary said he wants to see a more consistent offensive performance.
“Everyone is excited,” Singletary said. “We are looking forward to a good game.
“Usually playing the same team is not ideal because they know what you have. But sometimes it is an advantage because you know what you struggled with the first time around. We are going to have to hit the ball a little bit better. We have to make sure we are hitting throughout the lineup.”
