Round one

MAMOU -- In one of the biggest rivalries around the area, the Mamou Lady Demons scored a 6-1 win over the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers in round one of their two district showdowns this season.
With the win, Mamou improves to 4-3 on the year and 1-0 in District 5-3A. The Lady Demons were scheduled to participate in the Tioga tournament this past weekend.
The loss drops Pine Prairie to 8-2 on the season and 0-1 in league play. The Lady Panthers were also scheduled for the Tioga tournament.
After retiring Pine Prairie in order in the top of the first inning, Mamou took the early lead in the bottom half of the inning. Lead off batter Angel Menier reached first on a dropped third strike.
A single off of the bat of Madison Fontenot moved Menier to second base. A ground ball pushed the two runners to second and third. An error on the Lady Panther defense scored Menier to give the Lady Demons the 1-0 lead.
Pine Prairie threatened in the top of the second when, with two outs, Kaitlin Robinson and Ashlin Robinson reached second and third respectfully. However, starting Mamou pitcher Dacia Richard struck out the next batter to kill the threat.
A rash of errors from the Lady Panthers caused some unneeded heartache. With three unforced miscues in the bottom half of the second inning, the Lady Demons were able to plate three more runs to open up their advantage to 4-0.
The top of the third saw some action from the Pine Prairie offense. Kailey Soileau blasted a two out double into right-center field to give the Lady Panthers some hope.
Allie Fontenot followed with a single into shallow right field, but the ball did not have enough to score Soileau. Richard then proceeded to induce a ground ball out to end the at bat which kept Pine Prairie scoreless.
Mamou went up and down in order in the bottom of the third, as did the Lady Panthers in the top of the fourth. The bottom of the fourth also saw no Lady Demons reach base, keeping it a four run advantage for Mamou.
Pine Prairie’s bats finally came through in the top of the fifth inning. Following a lead off strike out, Maycie Hardy singled into right field.
Hardy reached second on a stolen base and touched home plate on a Soileau single. Richard and the Mamou defense stopped the bleeding getting the next two outs and stranding Soileau on the bag at first base.
In their next at bat, the Lady Demons wanted to make sure that they did not allow Pine Prairie to sneak up on them and crawl back into the game, as they produced the final two runs of the contest.
With one out, Fontenot singled to left field. A walk, issued to Richard, moved runners up to first and second.
Taylor Douget delivered a 2-2 single deep enough into left field to score both Fontenot and Richard. Douget was then caught stealing for the second out. The at bat ended on a ground ball.
Richard went the distance, giving up one run on six hits while striking out six. Fontenot went two for three with an RBI and a run scored to lead Mamou.
Soileau was two for four to lead the Lady Panthers at the plate.