Ouachita's Abby Allen is Louisiana's Miss Softball

Abby Allen’s walk-up music was more caustic warning than softball anthem.

“I bet you won’t.”

Most pitchers took heed of the lyrics. Those that didn’t learned the hard way.

Sophomores aren’t supposed to have this kind of impact. Allen batted a blistering .505 with 48 RBIs and 13 home runs at catcher this season for the Class 5A state champion Ouachita Parish.

“I’ve never looked at it that way or worried about how old I am,” Allen said. “My goal has always been trying to work hard and get better to help the team.”

An already gaudy list of accomplishments in Allen’s young career now includes the Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance/LSWA Miss Softball award. The two-time LSWA All-State selection and reigning Class 5A MVP joins Sterlington’s Britni Bowen as the second northeastern Louisiana product to capture the state’s top softball honor.

Ouachita coach Tim Whitman, a five-time state champion at Pineville and with the Lady Lions, said Allen has the total package as a player.

“I’ve never had one put together that combination of natural ability and athleticism like Abby has,” Whitman said. “She’s such a student of the game that she could probably call pitches for us and we’d be fine.

“When you put all of it together, you get a special player.”

Allen credited Ouachita’s college-style practices — Whitman was the softball coach at Louisiana College for nine years — for her development.

“There’s no standing around,” Allen said. “Coach Whitman always has us doing something to get better and we push each other every day to compete.

“We work so hard that the games are the easy part and we can just go have fun and play.”

Allen made her sophomore season look easier than it was at times. Teams remembered her freshman exploits, where she hit .478 with 13 home runs, and many said, “no thanks.”

By the end of the season, if a base was open, it made more sense for Allen to go ahead and trot to first.

Film sessions with Whitman helped Allen learn to navigate the intentional walk and learn how teams were trying to pitch her.

“You couldn’t pitch her the same way twice once she figured it out,” Whitman said.

“If you did, you were in trouble.”

Whitman’s decision to move Allen from cleanup to third in the order made pitching around her even harder. This move left the opposition with two options; pitch to Allen or pray Jordyn Manning (.435) and Madelyn Fletcher (.410) — the four and five-hole hitters — weren’t at their best.

Ouachita’s potent lineup set a new program record in back-to-back years by hitting 70 home runs.

Allen atoned for an 0-for-4 performance in the previous year’s state championship game by driving in the go ahead run in Ouachita’s 10-9 come-from-behind win over Hahnville.

“They just kept punching away,” Hahnville coach Jerry Nugent said following the game.

“That lineup is capable of turning a game in a hurry and we just tried to maintain our composure.”

Allen doesn’t think she’s hit her ceiling just yet and has a specific goal in mind for next season.

“More home runs,” Allen said.

“I just like hitting home runs and I want to do that and get my average up.”

Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance/LSWA Miss Softball

• 1996: Ashley Lewis, Central
• 1997: Ashleigh Ivey, Barbe-Lake Charles
• 1998: Micah Barbato, Lafayette
• 1999: Mandy Mullins, Sacred Heart-Ville Platte
• 2000: Sarah Meadors, Denham Springs
• 2001: Beth Provost, Teurlings Catholic-Lafayette
• 2002: Beth Provost, Teurlings Catholic-Lafayette
• 2003: Britni Bowen, Sterlington
• 2004: Leah Heintze, St. Amant
• 2005: Kellie Eubanks, St. Amant
• 2006: Ashley Brignac, John Curtis
• 2007: Ashley Brignac, John Curtis
• 2008: Lauren Crane, Vandebilt Catholic
• 2009: Lauren Wilson, Belle Chasse
• 2010: Christina Hamilton, Rosepine
• 2011: Courtney Ivey, Oak Hill
• 2012: Baylee Corbello, Sam Houston
• 2013: Baylee Corbello, Sam Houston
• 2014: Katie Brignac, John Curtis
• 2015: Tanner Wright, Sam Houston
• 2016: Bailey Hemphill, St. Thomas More
• 2017: Emma Callie Delafield, North DeSoto
• 2018: Abby Allen, Ouachita Parish