Matt Vines

The paths to Sulphur are set for three DeSoto Parish softball teams who now know their route to the state championships.

North DeSoto and Logansport each earned the No. 1 seed in their respective divisions while Stanley picked up the last bye slot in Division V Non-Select.

All three teams earned first-round byes and will kick back tonight and await their second-round opponent.

North DeSoto (No. 1 in Division II Non-Select) will play the winner of No. 16 Cecilia and No. 17 Rayne.

Logansport (No. 1 in Division IV Non-Select) will await the winner of No. 16 Lake Arthur and No. 17 South Plaquemines.

Stanley gets the winner of No. 11 Holden and No. 22 Ebarb.

Most second-round games are likely to be played Tuesday with a deadline of Wednesday before the quarterfinals must be played by April 20 (Saturday).

Logansport (22-7) secured its position through tough games at the end of the season.

The Lady Tigers finished 3-3 in their last six with one-run losses to Natchitoches Central and Montgomery and a 14-2 loss to Tioga.

Logansport made the quarterfinals this past season but were missing pitcher Avery Creech, who’s been a hoss in the circle as a senior.

Logansport could run into its two district rivals in No. 4 LaSalle (semifinals) and No. 3 Montgomery (championship game), both of which have beaten Logansport this season. No. 5 seed French Settlement and No. 8 East Beauregard (Tigers won 4-0 this season) are the other top seeds on Logansport’s side of the bracket.

No current North DeSoto player has ever ended a season without a state championship in hand, and the Lady Griffins will go for four straight this season.

North DeSoto (27-4) hasn’t played any likely opponents on its side of the Division II Non-Select bracket, but potential championship matchups exist with No. 3 Brusly (beat NDHS 3-2), and No. 6 Grant (NDHS won 7-1).

Competition won’t be an issue for a Lady Griffins squad split with nationally-ranked Sterlington and fell to nationally ranked Calvary Baptist in addition to a schedule that features a slew of defending state champions and deep playoff participants in both large and small-school divisions.

Aside from the Calvary Baptist loss, North DeSoto has won its last eight contests, which included a 6-5 win against West Monroe in which Laney Johnson hammered a walk-off home run in the eighth inning to end the regular season.

For Stanley, the Lady Panthers pinned big pelts on its victory wall with wins against Benton and Natchitoches Central.

Stanley did lose its other three games in the last five ,close losses to Converse, Simsboro and St. Frederick.

Simsboro is on Stanley’s side of the bracket as a No. 15 seed, but No. 3 Choudrant (quarterfinals) and No. 2 Zwolle (semifinals) are much more likely matchups.

Stanley has wins against both Choudrant and Zwolle this season.