Ready, Set, Go: No. 1 Walker primed for start of Division I softball playoffs
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
WALKER – Walker’s softball team left Live Oak on March 10 with a 7-6 loss midway through District 5-5A play, the result of a walk-off base hit.
The Lady Cats returned home for a mercy-rule win over St. Charles Catholic and haven’t been slowed since.
Walker – the state’s No. 1 overall team according to MaxPreps.com – is in the midst of a season-high 15-game winning streak and No. 1 seed – the school’s first ever – going into the start of the Division I non-select playoffs. The Lady Cats host No. 16 Central (19-9) in a regional contest at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“I don’t pay attention to any of that,” said Walker’s ninth-year softball coach Hali Westmoreland, a 2010 graduate of the school and former player. “It was a goal, and I know every game is important because of the strength of schedule. I try to keep the girls focused and to let the cards play out.
“I’m glad we’ve stayed in the right mindset, not getting distracted by numbers or an opponent. Now it’s a new day,” Westmoreland said. “We’re excited to be there, to be the home team for all of the games. That’s the perk of being No. 1.”
Walker’s never won a state championship in softball. That’s not to say the Lady Cats haven’t been on the cusp of achieving such a distinction, reaching the Division I state semifinals five times – including last year’s 3-2 setback to Dutchtown.
“They haven’t mentioned anything else other than being state champions,” Westmoreland said. “No one’s said they just want to make it to the state (tournament). You can see these kids want it. They’re eager and have worked so hard. I’m a firm believer that hard work, keeping the integrity of the game, and having integrity as a human is going to pay off. Hopefully, it’s with a trophy in our hand.”
Six starters and one senior pitcher, Kaylee Dieck, returned this season with the intention of winning one of the state’s top Class 5A districts and returning to the state tournament with an opportunity to accomplish something that’s never been done in the program’s history.
With two rounds of league play, the Lady Cats won the marathon district with a 10-2 record that included atoning for losses to East Ascension and Live Oak and registering a pair of one-run wins over state power St. Amant (6-5, 9-8). Over their last seven league games, the Lady Cats outscored their opposition 83-19 and finished with an 8-0 record shutout of Livingston Parish rival Denham Springs.
“That was obviously a step to reaching the main goal,” Westmoreland said of the district crown, the first since 2022 and the fifth since she’s coached the Lady Cats. “When you take a step back and look at our district, winning that’s a big deal. They call it the SEC of Louisiana softball, and I’m excited that we’re a part of that.
“When they set the goal for themselves to win district, I knew they could achieve it, but I knew you had to show up because every team’s competitive and coached well,” Westmoreland said. “Our girls did a good job of staying focused and achieving each step. (The) Top 5 (seed) was one of our goals, which is something they stayed really locked on throughout the season.”
Rain pushed the start of last year’s Division I semifinal back a day to Saturday with Dutchtown emerging triumphant.
Two days later, without any nudging, Westmoreland saw something that slowly eased the pain of the team’s semifinal exit when all the returning members of the 2026 team voluntarily showed up in the weight room.
Westmoreland, in somewhat disbelief, took it as a positive sign.
“I felt they were going to do great this year,” she said. “They were still locked in. They were still hungry, and that’s not something you can teach. I’m blessed with a great group of kiddos.
“I figured they would take a couple of days to overcome the emotions,” she said. “It’s emotional when you make it that far, and you get beat because you’ve worked so hard. There’s only going to be one winner. When you lose, you feel as though you didn’t accomplish anything, but when you take a step back, we accomplished a lot last season. It took a couple of days for them to realize that.”
What Walker’s 2025 team did was raise the level of the program’s expectations once again. The Lady Cats, who were 19-9 overall and 3-7 in district play, were uncharacteristically bounced by East Ascension in the first round of the state playoffs the year before.
That served as a catalyst for Walker throughout the season. The Lady Cats were 22-8 and 8-4, respectively, and the seventh-seeded team returned to postseason play with a vengeance, taking an opening-round mercy rule win over Barbe followed by victories over Sulphur and Benton before coming up just short against Dutchtown.
“Having that experience under their belt helped them,” Westmoreland said of this year’s team. “They got a taste of the big stage. They got a chance to look around and see this is Louisiana softball. It’s exciting. It’s fun. When you get to that point, everybody wants to win. You just want to play good softball. You want everyone to succeed. They got a taste of getting there, and that fueled their fire.
“That team (2024) had the tools but had to figure out the pieces to the puzzle,” Westmoreland said. “We had a lot of youth on the field, which is no excuse. They didn’t understand that everything was important. Every inning, every pitch is important. As those same kiddos started to mature, they realized this was a big deal in the best way. They were privileged to represent their community but also play this game they loved.”
Walker won seven of the first 10 games – a stretch that featured wins over Brusly (No. 3 seed Division II non-select), Mt. Carmel (No. 1 seed Division I select), St. Amant (No. 5 seed), and reigning Division I non-select state champion Sam Houston (No. 2 seed Division I).
The second and third losses in that span were to West Monroe, the No. 3 seed that’s in regional play, and Live Oak, the No. 10 seed, which also advanced to the regional round.
Walker had three of its 11 mercy-rule wins in the first three weeks of the season, but the Lady Cats were also involved in their share of tight outcomes.
They handed Brusly one of its five losses (7-4), edged Archbishop Chapelle (9-5), which is the No. 3 seed in Division I select and competing in regional play with one-run setbacks against West Monroe and Live Oak.
“I think the girls do a good job of facing adversity,” Westmoreland said. “That comes with a lot of preparation and knowing, so what, now what. Maybe we didn’t play our best. Maybe we had a few errors, but my teammate’s going to have my back. They do a really good job of knowing we still have some softball left in a specific game. We have time, and my team’s going to have my back.
“One of the biggest pluses of this team is how close-knit they are and how much they want each other to succeed,” Westmoreland said. “As a coach, you can’t teach that. You can try, but that comes from within, and I’m blessed with a great group of kiddos. The girls are staying locked in for the long-term goal. They have worked so hard since last May.”
Walker’s 8-6 road win over Pineville, the No. 2 seed and Division I select regional team, was another example of this year’s resilient nature.
The Lady Cats built momentum in the second half of the schedule and administered five mercy-rule wins in district play, coupled with similar road wins over Parkview Baptist (No. 2 Division III select) and Archbishop Hannan (No. 2 Division II select), and managed to gut out a second one-run win over St. Amant.
A year after losing 7-5 to John Curtis, the Lady Cats traveled to River Ridge to conclude the regular season with a 2-0 victory over the Lady Patriots, the No. 4 seed in the Division I select bracket, who are in regional action.
“There’s a certain level of play we have to bring every game,” Westmoreland said. “I wanted to schedule games outside of district that were just as tough so that way it would prepare for us for the postseason. I’m hoping and praying that all of those tough games, having to come back, where the bases were loaded, and having to get out of that inning. I’m hopeful all of that has prepared these girls to know that no matter what happens, we’ve been through it. We can conquer, and we can win.”
Walker’s not without talent with a roster of six next level commitments – senior pitcher Kaylee Dieck (Southeast Arkansas), junior shortstop Adalyn Stoltz (Jones Community College), junior center fielder Oakley Bailey (Pearl River Community College), junior left fielder Marissa Daigle (William Carey College), junior pitcher/designated player Alexis Pitre (Copiah-Lincoln Community College) and utility McKenna Thibodeaux (LSU Eunice)
The Lady Cats feature a powerful lineup that’s blasted a school-record 55 home runs.
Sophomore third baseman Harlee Usry is one of three players with better than a .400 average, and her 19 homers lead the team. That group also includes Pitre with 15 homers and Bailey with nine.
“We have some really good power hitters, but we also have some great table setters,” Westmoreland said. “They’ve taken on the role of getting on base, so when those power hitters come up, it’s more than a solo home run. Home runs are awesome. We love to elevate to celebrate. I preach that we cannot rely on home runs. We’ve got some girls that can hit the ball really far, and I’m glad they’re on our team.”
Pitre, Bailey, Stoltz, and Daigle – who are all juniors – are all multi-year starters along with Usry.
Pitre and Nyla Boutte, a freshman, help make up a pitching staff that’s helped lead to five shutouts. Dieck and Abigail Hill are also part of the Lady Cats’ staff.
“Alexis and Nyla have been complementing each other very well,” Westmoreland said. “If one may be having a little bit of an off day, the other one comes in and has her back and on their best days, we’re able to throw both and get the same outcome. It’s exciting to have a staff and not just one singular ace because that way your defense doesn’t have to change. We have tools in our toolbox, and we’re blessed to be able to say that.”
More than a week after its win over John Curtis, Walker returns to Randy Bradshaw Field to face Central, a 12-2 first-round winner over Southside, where the Lady Cats look to continue a wave of momentum they created nearly six weeks ago.
“They’re excited, they’re ready to get back on the field and play ball,” Westmoreland said. “The goal is to stay focused and worry about our performance and what we do, and remember this is a privilege, a blessing, and God has given you this ability. It’s the game of softball, and winning is all-important, but take a step back and remember the bigger picture. As long as we keep our heads in the right space, these girls are going to have a positive outcome.”