With their doubleheader sweep, 9-1 and 7-1, of Trinity Valley Community College on Friday coupled with Kilgore College’s doubleheader sweep of Tyler Junior College, the Bossier Parish Community College Lady Cavaliers earned a share of the NJCAA Region XIV regular season championship.
BPCC finished the regular season 41-11 overall and 22-6 in region play. The Lady Cavaliers will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s Region XIV Tournament at Lamar State College-Port Arthur. TJC will be the No. 1 seed as the Apache Ladies hold the tiebreaker over the Lady Cavs.
Sophomore pitcher Elisa Favela tossed a complete game, two-hitter in game two to lead the Lady Cavaliers to their 41st win. Favela allowed just one unearned run, while striking out seven and walking one to improve her record to 14-6 on the season. The Ewa Beach, Hawaii native now has 34 career wins at BPCC.
Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning of two, sophomore Tyler Robinson hit a line drive three-run home run over the center field fence to give the Lady Cavaliers a 4-0 lead. After TVCC score a run in the fourth, sophomore Chelsea Fagan belted a two-run home run over right-center field wall, in what was her last plate appearance at home.
Fagan, a Bastrop High product, leads the NJCAA’s Division I with 37 home runs and she’s driven in 85 runs, which ranks second Div. I. Fagan went 2-for-3 in the game with a home run and three RBIs.
In game one, freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Roth turned in another outstanding performance as she allowed just one run on three hits through six innings. She did not walk a batter and struck out four to earn the win. Roth now owns a 13-1 record in the circle for the Lady Cavaliers.
Leading 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Jayleen Lantier’s single scored Favela to give the Lady Cavaliers a walkoff 9-1 run-rule victory over the Lady Cardinals. Freshman Dorrie Cormier led off the inning with walk and sophomore Shelrika Bryant followed with a double.
It was Bryant’s third hit of the game. A wild pitch on ball four to freshman Zoe Hancock scored Cormier from third. On the play, Hancock sprinted around first and headed to second. TVCC catcher Mele Pasikala threw down to second to try to catch Hancock stealing, but the throw was not in time and it allowed Bryant to steal home.
Favela followed with a single, but Hancock was thrown out at the plate by Lady Cardinals center fielder Claudia Santana. After a passed ball moved Favela to third, Fagan walked to put runners at the corners. Lantier, a Sulphur product, then delivered the walkoff single to left-center field.
BPCC coach Amanda Nordberg-Hamilton has led the Lady Cavs to 83 wins over the last two seasons, the highest two-year total in school history. The Lady Cavaliers have posted back-to-back 40-plus win seasons for the first time in program history. Including last year’s 42 wins, there were two additional 40-win seasons in 2003 and 2005 under long-time coach Ashley Grisham.
— Charlie Cavell, BPCC athletic coordinator
