The Paris Lady Eagles softball team hosted the Scranton Lady Rockets on Tuesday in a non-conference game. It was Senior Night for the Lady Eagles program, and Paris honored three seniors who have given unselfishly to the program for the past three to four years. Seniors Caiden Haller, Cheyenne Moore, and Jayden Hart were honored in a brief pre-game ceremony. The Lady Eagles will miss all three seniors dearly next year.
After the game, Paris coach Donald Hart talked about his three seniors that were honored Tuesday night. “Caiden Haller has been with the program for three years, always has a positive attitude on and off the field. Caiden is a good vocal leader on the field and in the dugout. Cheyenne Moore, has been with us for four years and is a kid who is always at practice, has a positive attitude, works hard, and does anything that has is asked of her. Jayden Hart has been a four year starter and has always led by example, both on and off the field. All three seniors have been great leaders for underclassmen regardless of if they were in the lineup or working on the field.”
The game itself with Scranton was virtually meaningless to both Scranton and Paris. Both teams are focusing on the post season tournaments in their classifications, and other than local or regional interests in the two schools, the focus now is keeping the teams sharp before next week’s district tournaments.
Paris senior Jayden Hart, who has pitched a lot of innings this year, and who will be counted on for the post-season hopes of the Lady Eagles, started the game with Scranton and earned another complete game victory in the circle. Donald Hart has his pitching rotation set so that Jayden will get timely rest before the start of the district tournament next week in Booneville. The Lady Eagles have won the northern division in the 3A-4 conference and will go into next week’s district tournament as the top seed from the north. Tournament host school, Booneville, went undefeated in conference play, including a big 2-1 victory over the Lady Eagles in a conference cross-over game played earlier in the season at Booneville. The Lady Bearcats will enter the tournament as the top seed from the south division. By virtue of their divisional championships, both Booneville and Paris are also guaranteed births in the regional tournament, as well.
The Lady Eagles’ overall record on the 2021 season is 14-10. Paris is 8-2 in conference play and will finish as the top seed in the north. Paris has remaining home non-conference games with Alma on Thursday and Lincoln on Friday, weather permitting. Paris has added non-conference games next week at Mansfield on Monday and at Greenwood on Wednesday. Paris will play the Bulldogs’ junior varsity team on Wednesday at Greenwood. Monday’s game at Mansfield is slated for 4:30 p.m. Paris will play two five-inning games with the Greenwood JV team on Wednesday starting at 4 p.m.
The Scranton Lady Rockets, short on numbers Tuesday, played hard and were competitive with Paris for most of the game. The Lady Rockets took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and were threatening to add more. But timely strikeouts and big defensive plays killed rallies all day for Scranton, and Paris was able to gradually build their lead to a final score of 8-1.
Although Tuesday was senior night for the Paris softball team, it was not the last time the Lady Eagles seniors will play on their home field, and it certainly is not the end of the season for Paris. There is a lot of softball still to be played, and for three seniors who have given so much to the Paris softball program, this will be their chance to pursue their dreams of winning championships in their senior year of high school.
Additional photos from the Lady Eagles game with Scranton are now available on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports. All photos are free for viewing and / or copying. Fans from both schools are welcome to visit the page.
Resident Press will again be in Paris today to cover Eagles baseball as Paris will again host Scranton in a non-conference game. First pitched is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
So, bring your coat and lawn chair and come to the ballpark and cheer on your Eagles!
See you at the ballpark!
