Covenant Christian softball opens playoffs with dominant win over St. Martin's Episcopal
THIBODAUX — If Covenant Christian softball can repeat its performance from Friday night's LHSAA playoff opener, the Lions might just end their season in Sulphur.
12-seed CCA (14-10) dominated 21-seed St. Martin's Episcopal (7-10) on Friday on its way to a 16-0, run-rule win in four innings to open the Division IV select postseason.
Friday's game was never competitive. The Saints opened with a leadoff single in the top of the first, but that hit turned out to be the only baserunner for the team throughout the game. The next 12 batters — every SMES batter for the remainder of the game — were all set down in order.
Meanwhile, the Lions scored in all four innings, capping the game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the fourth to right-center field, triggering the LHSAA's 15 runs through at least three innings rule.
Hot bats set tone
CCA started fast on Friday. The Lions plated seven runs before recording their first out, and even then, that first out was a sacrifice that drove in an eighth run.
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In total, CCA scored in every inning — eight runs in the first, one in the second, five in the third, and three in the fourth before the game was called.
Marks stars at bat, in the circle
Sophomore Krista Marks was given the start on Friday, and she dazzled. She threw a complete-game shutout, allowed just one hit, and struck out seven Saints batters, including five in a row at one point.
She was almost as impressive with the bat in her hands: Marks went 2-for-4 at the plate, while driving in a run and scoring two runs herself.
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They said it
"The offense was well-executed by the girls," Lions head coach Chad Quick said. "We saw the third baseman playing deep, so as long as we put some good bunts down the left side of the field, I thought we'd be able to outrun most of them. We did. We were able to execute, move the runners around. Credit to the girls for executing that.
What's next
CCA will travel to No. 5 seed Ascension Catholic in the second round. The date and time of that game has not been announced yet.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Covenant Christian softball opens LHSAA playoffs with dominant win
