No. 9 Lady Rams open playoffs against No. 24 Loyola Prep

Softball fans, the playoffs have finally arrived. On Friday, the No. 9 Westlake Lady Rams learned that their first round playoff opponent will be the No. 24 Loyola College Prep Flyers. The Class 3A bi-district playoff game will be on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Loyola (13-15, 1-2) comes out of District 1-3A finishing just behind the only other team in the district No. 12 North DeSoto.

Monday will mark the second consecutive year the Lady Rams will host a first round playoff game. Last year, No. 7 Westlake beat No. 26 Ben Franklin 10-0.

"I'm a little nervous at the No. 9 seed," said Westlake head coach Jessica Provost on the draw. "We are facing the No. 24 Loyola Prep and I never trust numbers. I think they are going to be pretty tough. They made the playoffs for a reason and there was only one other team in their district and that team was ranked No. 12."

Two young pitchers, freshman Martha Williams and sophomore Kristen Berry lead the Flyers. Williams (8-11) has pitched 106 innings for Loyola this season with 90 strikeouts and 34 walks with a 2.51 ERA. Berry has a 5-4 record with a 3.5 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 10 walks in just 30 innings pitched.

Offensively, junior Tanner Roberts leads the way with a .432 batting average along with 24 runs scored on the year. Berry has a team-high 16 RBI's and Becca Glorioso has eight extra base hits, which is the most on the team.

"Obviously they are pretty good so you can't underestimate anybody even when you are the 9 seed against the 24 seed," Provost said on the Flyers. "They match up evenly with everybody they play. I don't believe they are a legit 24. I think they are going to be a lot better because on paper they look very good."

The Lady Rams (17-9-2, 10-0) look good on paper as well with a combined .297 batting average to score an average of 4.57 runs per game. Junior pitcher Maggie Bradshaw has dominated batters in district play with 96 strikeouts while allowing just 17 hits and two earned runs in 10 games for Westlake.

Provost said that the one intangible the Lady Rams have on their side heading into the postseason is their team unity.

"These girls are a team," stated Provost. "I think that plays the biggest role in anything when you can stay together and be one and not divided. Right now they are one so I think that will be the big impact."

Another thing Provost and her Lady Rams will have on their side is the home-field advantage.

"It's very big and I'm excited for our girls," Provost said on hosting a playoff game. "It's really exciting to bring softball to a big softball city like Westlake. It's really nice cause I know we will bring in a lot of people and have a good crowd for the game."

Provost said the biggest thing they have to do is stay focused on the task at hand.

"We are going to take one game at a time and play our A-game," explained Provost. "We have a tendency when we allow runners on to go into a panic mode. We have to get past that panic mode and play tougher defense. We also have to be sure to execute what we need to execute and do our jobs on offense.

"If we play good defense and hit the ball, we will be all right."