By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
PINE PRAIRIE — If there is anyone you can pinpoint for Pine Prairie’s 9-1 start to the 2023 softball season, it has to be pitcher Ava Kordish.
Whether Pine Prairie is collecting hits at the plate or not, Kordish has been a constant in the early season for the Lady Panthers in the circle. Through 10 games Kordish has posted an 8-1 record, pitching 53.1 innings and fanning 97 hitters.
Good things happen when you’re dominant in the circle in softball, and the Lady Panthers continued that success with another two wins this week.
Pine Prairie shutout St. Joe’s by a 2-0 margin on Monday, followed that up with a complete effort in a 10-2 win over St. Edmund on Tuesday before dropping a 7-6 heartbreaker to Lafayette Christian Thursday afternoon.
Pine Prairie 2, St. Joe’s 0
Kordish was her usual self to open the week, firing a perfect game while striking out 14 batters.
The Lady Panthers needed every bit of her brilliance against St. Joe’s, who themselves only allowed a single Pine Prairie hit while sitting down 10 hitters.
Pine Prairie’s two-run third provided the difference, with a Kordish fly ball causing an error that scored Victoria Briscoe to plate the opening run.
To follow that up, M.J. Chauvin walked with the bases loaded to score Sydney Fontenot to extend the lead and give Kordish more than enough run support to finish the job.
Pine Prairie 10, St. Edmund 2
The Lady Panthers wouldn’t need Kordish nearly as sharp against the Lady Jays.
St. Edmund did a good enough job derailing itself, giving up five runs in the top of the first and committing six fielding errors as well.
Still, Kordish was sharp and struck out eight Lady Jays in another complete game.
But, Pine Prairie’s offense got a chance to shine with five hitters dribing in runs and the Lady Panthers finishing with nine hits in the contest.
Briscoe opened the game with a single and advanced to second on an error. Harlie Arnaud plated the game’s opening run on a single that scored Briscoe.
An Alaina Boutte walk kept the pressure on and an error and walk allowed Fontenot and Arnaud to score to extend the early lead to 3-0.
A Lainey Campbell single scored Boutte to make it 4-0 and another error plated Lafleur to close out the frenetic first inning.
The Lady Panthers added two in the second and third innings to extend the lead before plating one more in the sixth for extra insurance.
Arnaud and Campbell were the leading hitters. Arnaud went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Campbell finished 2-for-4 with two RBI.
LCA 7, Pine Prairie 6
The Lady Panthers left their road trip on the wrong side of a walk-off when LCA’s Rylee Bentley laced a game-winning single to take the game.
LCA did a good job inside the circle, limiting Pine Prairie to only five hits. Four Lady Panthers — Arnaud, Boutte, Lafleur and Chauvin — drove in individual runs.
Pine Prairie jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two and a half innings before LCA responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the third to even the odds.
Still, the Lady Panthers took a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Briscoe opened the top of the frame with a single and was advanced on a fielder’s choice to third base.
An Arnaud sacrifice fly scored her to even the odds at 5 and Boutte did the same in the next at-bat to give Pine Prairie a 6-5 lead.
Still, when LCA got the opportunity to win the game it didn’t miss its shot.
They drew a lead-off walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored the tying run on an RBI-single.
The next hitter, Bentley, laced the game-winning single into fight field to snap the Lady Panther’s season-opening nine-game winning streak.
June 19, 2026
