BY DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
SLIDELL – The softball season ended earlier than the #8 seed Pope John Paul II Lady Jaguars (18-11) would have liked as the local squad fell to the #25 seed Opelousas Catholic Lady Vikings (13-15) in first round play of the state softball playoffs 6-4.
The outcome was indeed an upset of sorts. Opelousas fielded a starting lineup of all freshman players who took advantage of some mistakes by the Lady Jaguars from Pope John Paul.
But Jaguar coach Mark Jeanmard was quick to give the Lady Vikings their due.
“You have to give them credit but we made too many mistakes both offensively and defensively and you can’t do that in the playoffs.”
Despite the playoff defeat, the Lady Jaguars certainly had a strong season, and Jeanmard was upbeat about his squad. The Pope John Paul mentor stated, “We had a great year and have seen a lot of improvement. We finished higher than we ever had power point wise so that is a success. We just need to be able to play better in playoff games.”