Two years prior, St. Mary’s Dominican softball made the journey from New Orleans to Lafayette, where they experienced a heartbreaking one-run loss against Acadiana during the regional round of the Division I select playoffs.
On Wednesday, Dominican sought redemption with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Rams in another regional matchup. Both teams entered the contest with Dominican as the No. 10 seed and Acadiana as the No. 7 seed.
“That loss didn’t sit well with our seniors, who were sophomores back then,” shared Dominican coach Dawn Benoit.
After falling behind 2-0 in the fifth inning, Dominican sparked a rally with a leadoff home run from first baseman Autumn Green. Following that, five of the next six batters recorded hits, leading to runs batted in from Addison Shannon and Catherine Andrade (who hit a double).
“That’s the thing,” Benoit remarked. “We were having a tough time hitting. Now we’re starting to come alive, I guess you could say.”
Dominican (13-15), which previously dominated No. 23 Huntington with an 18-0 victory in the bi-district round, faced challenges with seven losses in their last eight regular season games. Five of those defeats were by two runs or fewer, including close contests against the reigning state champions Lutcher, Opelousas Catholic, and Vandebilt Catholic.
“Those losses put us in a mental slump, but today showed we did what was necessary to have a shot at going to the state tournament,” Benoit noted, as her team prepared to travel to Lafayette once more on Friday to face No. 2 St. Thomas More in the quarterfinals.
Dominican outperformed Acadiana in hitting, delivering nine hits to their three. Andrade led the lineup with three hits, while slugger Ava Lusco, who had previously hit two home runs in a narrow district loss to Archbishop Chapelle, contributed with one hit as well. Sarah Steeg also added two hits to the mix.
“We’ve been solid on defense all year long,” Benoit explained. “We just needed those crucial hits, and today was our day.”
Pitcher Aubrey Daigrepont made her mark by throwing a complete game three-hitter and shone defensively. During a pivotal moment, with Acadiana (18-13) having runners on first and second with no outs, she fielded a ground ball and made a crucial throw to get the lead runner, setting up a double play.
Daigrepont also executed an impressive play on a swinging bunt and caught a line drive for the final out of the game. She allowed just one earned run, striking out four batters and walking one while throwing 55 of her 88 pitches for strikes.
“It was a great game,” Benoit reflected. “Our defense was strong, which was fantastic. Aubrey has pitched every single game for us over the last three years. She had an outstanding performance today.”
Among the remaining eight teams in the Division I bracket, four hail from District 9-5A: No. 4 John Curtis Christian, No. 6 Mount Carmel, No. 9 Chapelle, and Dominican.
Last year, Dominican managed to beat Acadiana in the regular season in a thrilling extra inning game, ending with a score of 23-22.
This playoff match was initially scheduled for Tuesday at Acadiana High at 5 p.m. However, due to weather delays, it was postponed until Wednesday and relocated to a venue with a turf field.
