By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Five local softball teams are headed for the state softball playoffs, each two victories away from qualifying for the annual Fast Pitch 56 tournament in Sulphur.

Riverside, St. Charles, Hahnville, Lutcher, and Destrehan each learned their first round opponents on Thursday, as well as what the entirety of their respective brackets will look like. Seedings and qualifiers were selected based on the power points system.

Riverside (21-8) earned the fourth seed in Class 2A and will host No. 29 Pickering in the first round.  The winner will face the victor between DeQuincy and Thomas Jefferson. Riverside finished as District 10-2A runner up to 2A top seed Curtis. Pickering (10-8, 6-5) finished fourth in a tough District 4-2A field, behind Kinder, DeQuincy and Rosepine.

“I’m happy that it goes by power points … You’re still going to see some teams higher or lower than they should be, but I think if you just go by records it’s misleading,” said Hebert. “To me, it comes down to who you play. And I think there are teams around .500 that are better than some of those ahead of them. Playing good competition is what prepares you.”

Pickering’s district, for one, certainly looks to have prepared the Red Devils. Kinder (seeded at 8) DeQuincy (13) and Rosepine (19)  each won 16 or more games.

Hebert said it will be a tough road for the Rebels, citing respect for potential opponents like DeQuincy and Mamou, veterans of Sulphur.

“We played Mamou last year in the quarterfinals, and they’ve got everyone back,” said Hebert., referring to RA’s 6-2 win over the Demons last season. “Hopefully the schedule that we’ve played has us ready. It’s a tough road, but to win it all you’re gonna have to play them all at some point.”

St. Charles earned the seventh seed in Class 3A where the Comets will match up with No. 26 West Feliciana.

West Feliciana (7-12, 2-2) finished as runner-up in a small District 6-3A field that also consisted of Parkview Baptist and Baker. WFHS won its first four games of the season but lost its opening day starting pitcher to a torn ACL this season, and enters the playoffs in the midst of some struggles, having lost 10 of its last 12 games.

“They’ve been there before, two years ago” said Monica, noting West Feliciana’s recent trek to the Fast Pitch 56. “So it’s a program that’s been thorough all of this. They’re supposedly very young.

“The playoffs are about adjustments, and they’re going to adjust to us. We have to make sure we adjust to them when that happens. With the power ratings system, you’re basically getting the best 32 teams, so there are no slappies out there.”

SCC (21-5), which split the District 7-3A crown with Brusly, could see a lot of familiarity with a win, as district foe E.D. White is a potential second round foe if it can upset No. 10 Jewel Sumner, and a potential third round game with Brusly also looms.

“It’s really a compliment to the district,” Monica said. “I just spoke with Brusly’s coach, and we said we might as well play another round of district if things play out like that. Our district has four teams that made it in, when you throw in Port Allen, which tells you how strong 7-3A was this season.”

Defending 5A champion Hahnville earned the highest seed of any River Parishes team, notching the third seed in 5A. The 8-5A champion Tigers (27-2) will host district rival John Ehret (15-6) for a third time this season. The Tigers defeated Ehret 16-0 and 10-0 in two previous games.

District 6-4A champion Lutcher (18-11) is the seventh-seed in 4A and will host Lakeshore (12-9), the runner-up in District 7-4A.

Destrehan (20-10), the runner-up in District 8-5A, earned the 23rd seed in 5A and will travel to face Live Oak in round one. Live Oak (20-6) is the champion of District 4-5A.

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