Soaring as the top Lady Eagle: Emily Deselle leads the team with 23 homeruns and 64 RBIs

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - Holy Savior Menard’s Emily Deselle has become one of the most feared batters in the state, as she has hit 23 home runs this season, which ranks second in Louisiana.

This past week, Deselle hit one against Pine Prairie, which set the tone in extra innings to take the win.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I have been working toward something and I finally feel like I achieved it,” said Deselle.

“If I was playing anywhere in the field, and I was against Emily Deselle, I would be scared,” said Lady Eagles second baseman, Sophia Scully. “I would take steps back because she is really good. The ball comes off her bat hard, and I would be scared.”

There aren’t many pitchers who can stop the crack of Deselle’s bat as she is the Eagles’ leadoff hitter and has a staggering batting average of over .500 and 64 RBIs.

“I feel like Coach Layni always says it is a way to start a game,” said Deselle. “One run, hit and one out. It just kind of brings the momentum to our side of the dugout.”

Early on, she hit toward the middle of the lineup, but it didn’t take long before she was batting clean-up.

“As an eighth grader, she hit five homeruns in 13 games, so she was in the five and sixth hole,” said Lady Eagles head coach Thomas Scully. “Since then, she has been in the three, four holes, and then this year we have moved her actually in the one hole and give her an opportunity at more at bats.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Deselle is a four-year starter at shortstop and has become a relief pitcher for the Lady Eagles.

“Emily is the example,” said Sophia Scully. “If Emily is having a bad day, we all feel it, but she is tough enough to where she can take those bad days and turn them into teaching moments.”

“What Emily knows is, she knows that she has to be the leader of this team,” said Coach Scully. “She can lead it verbally, and she can lead it quietly. She has done both over her career of four years.”

For her mental toughness in the box, on the diamond and in the circle, Emily Deselle is this week’s ACA Athlete of the Week.

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