Be proud of yourselves.

That message was conveyed by Mount Carmel softball coach Curtis Matthews to the Cubs after a 6-1 loss to St. Thomas More in the Division I select semifinals at Frasch Park in Sulphur on Saturday.

"It was emotional," Matthews said of the postgame huddle. "It's unfortunate for the seniors (Brooklyn Butler and Chloe Krey). It's the end of their career here. But as young as we are, we accomplished one of the things we wanted, and that was to get here to Sulphur."

The sixth-seeded Cubs (16-14) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Shelbi Alphonso — who had three hits and made a diving catch to rob a Cougars player in the outfield — singled and scored on Krey's hit.

"We had eight hits, they had six," Matthews said. "STM is a very good team. We outhit them, but we left people on base. They turned double plays. STM is a very good team."

Krey started the game at pitcher, but Matthews went to Hayden Traub out of the bullpen after one-third of an inning. Krey was called for two illegal pitches, the same thing that happened in the quarterfinal at No. 3 Alexandria.

"I had a very good conversation with the LHSAA about it," Matthews said of Krey's delivery. "We talked about what the rule is. We knew it would probably happen after it spread like wildfire about her elbow being closer to the body. It is what it is."

No. 2-seeded St. Thomas More (25-7) scored four runs in the first inning but had only one hit leave the infield. Traub didn't give up another run until the fifth inning. Natalie Johnson pitched the final 1⅓ innings, allowing no runs and one hit with a strikeout.

"Hayden came in and did great at pitcher," Matthews said. "She's a dog. Natalie did great. We lost our No. 1 pitcher (Paige Reuther) to injury. Chloe was our No. 2. We came into the semifinals with our nos. 3, 4 and 5 pitchers. That's the dog in us."

The Cubs put two runners on with no outs in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Cougars turned double plays on grounders to third baseman Ava Segura. Mount Carmel loaded the bases in the seventh, but STM pitcher Margeret Oge recorded the final out.

Emri Roussel had two hits. Traub, Johnson and Marlie Belsome each added one hit for the Cubs, who entered the playoffs on a nine-game losing streak ahead of offensive explosions in wins over No. 11 Captain Shreve and Alexandria (24 runs, 31 hits).

"It was awesome," Matthews said. "We came out there and beat the No. 3 seed. We're here. It's an accomplishment. Walk out of here, hug your family, tell them you love them. (Hold your) heads high. We were hanging in there with a very good team.

"I get this team back. We're going to be fighting next year."