Brittany LeBeouf knows what her Kaplan High School softball program has been.
It's a program that's been really good in the regular season, but one that hasn't qualified for the state softball tournament since 2018 when advancing to the quarterfinals was enough to reach Sulphur.
"It has been a while since we last made it to the state softball tournament," LeBeouf said. "Our theme this year is to be one of four and that would mean we have made it to the semifinals and the state tournament."
LeBeouf knows what the Pirates can be and that's a state champion for the first time since 2016.
"We have set some goals, and, of course, one of them is to win a state championship," LeBeouf said. "This team can be as good as they want to be. We definitely can be state champions."
Behind stellar pitching headlined by junior Briley LeBeouf and an offensive attack led by shortstop Kennedi Marceaux, the Pirates appear to be a team to watch out for as the season progresses.
"We are playing good," Brittany LeBeouf said. "We are playing well, but I would like us to be playing better than well."
The Pirates (17-4) could do that is by reducing their errors.
"I would like for us to clean up our defense," Brittany LeBeouf said. "It seems as the game speeds up, we begin to make uncharacteristic errors. But also, I'd like for us to pitch better and have better at-bats than we have been having."
Marceaux, who hit 24 home runs last year, has 13 homers this year. It's going to be key for hitters like senior center fielder Noble Hebert to continue their success to help prevent Marceaux from getting intentionally walked.
"Kennedi is off to a good start and we know what we are getting from her every time she steps onto the field," LeBeouf said. "I believe in our two through four hitters and they have been doing a good job of forcing opposing teams to pitch to her."
Improving their walk-to-strikeout ratio has been instrumental in the Pirates' success offensively.
"We focus a lot on hitting," LeBeouf said. "It's not so much that we are focused on hitting home runs. We want to hit hard, line drives. That's our forte. Our goal is to have more walks than strikeouts and the last two seasons we have had more strikeouts than walks."
LeBeouf believes the Lady Pirates can get better offensively, especially if "adjust" to opposing pitchers quicker.
"We have to have quality at-bats," LeBeouf said. "We need to adjust to the pitcher the first time through the lineup and not after the second and third times through."
If they do, LeBeouf said she's confident they'll end the season right where they want to be — in Sulphur.