(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2019. Today, we look at #5 on our list.)
5. Tornado strikes LA Tech; Lady Techsters rebound to win C-USA title
Just hours after Louisiana Tech had hosted the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns on April 24th, a large tornado tore through the school’s Ruston, Louisiana campus. Leaving little more than ruins in its wake, the twister decimated several of the school’s on-campus athletic facilities, including the baseball; softball; and soccer stadiums.
Once all of the softball team members were accounted for, surveying of the damage began; felled trees littered the grandstand and infield, while the outfield fence was no longer in existence and mere remnants of the scoreboard were left hanging. Players and coaches spoken to shortly after the incident were notably shaken and saddened.
Left with an uninhabitable – and certainly unplayable – complex, the Lady Techsters were left in a quandary, as they were set to host their final home conference series of the year that very weekend. The series was an important one for Conference USA tournament implications, as well, as visiting team Western Kentucky was, along with Louisiana Tech and North Texas, in a 3-team race for the league title.
The Lady Techsters found their answer just down Interstate 20, in neighbors and rivals Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks were on the road that weekend and offered up their facilities for use. In the series-opening doubleheader, the Lady Techsters broke out for twelve runs in a pair of victories in an effort that then-head coach Mark Montgomery described by saying, “The raw emotion and adrenaline they had… was just unbelievable.”
Resiliency and togetherness became the themes of what was left of the season for the squad, and the town of Ruston joined in the effort, with nearly seven hundred fans making the hour’s-journey to see the team in the series opener against Western Kentucky.
The losers of three straight games prior to the tornado and the Western Kentucky series, the Lady Techsters banded together and swept WKU, later taking a series win on the road against Southern Miss and posting an undefeated record in the league tournament to take the C-USA crown and reach the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.
