FERRIDAY, La. — Trinity Episcopal High captured its first MPSA South A State Softball championship late Saturday night in convincing fashion, defeating Claiborne 10-3 for the title.

The Lady Saints, who finished 4-0 in the tournament, outscored their opponents 56-7.

&uot;I don’t even know how to describe that,&uot; said Trinity assistant coach Rick Kirby. &uot;The girls have been playing good ball and they just kept it going.&uot;

Trinity will have a top seed in the state tournament to be held at Huntington High Saturday.

Huntington also advanced to the state tournament, rebounding from a second game loss to Claiborne to defeat Tensas and Central before losing to Claiborne 14-9, allowing Claiborne to reach the finals.

In Trinity’s win over Claiborne, Sara Greer had a home run, triple and single, while Sarah Kirby tripled and had two singles.

Sarah Kirby finished the tournament going 11-for-13 with three home runs.

Winning pitcher Amber Huff, Jessica Tannehill and Lesley Petty each doubled, while Ashley Kingsafer had two singles.

The championship game ended after midnight.

Trinity breezed through its first three games and had to wait through three games to play for the title.

&uot;I was a little worried about that,&uot; Kirby said. &uot;We let the girls leave and then they came back and sat in the bleachers to watch the Huntington-Claiborne game. I could tell they were ready to play. I knew they were a little tired after playing all day, but they came out ready to play.&uot;

Kirby said winning South State gives the Lady Saints a lot of confidence going into Saturday’s state tournament.

&uot;We have six seniors who have been trying to six years to win South State,&uot; he said. &uot;They were finally able to get one. I’m real happy for them.&uot;

Trinity defeated Tensas 9-0 in its opening game.

The Lady Saints defeated Central Academy 12-2 in their second contest.

Trinity advanced to the finals with a 25-2 win over Claiborne.

The Lady Saints scored five runs in the fifth inning and 10 in the sixth.

The Lady Saints had 27 total hits against Claiborne in the first game and 11 in the second game.

&uot;The girls feed off each other,&uot;&160;Kirby said. &uot;Once they get started, they just keep rolling. We didn’t have to say anything to them. They just went out and did what they had to do.&uot;

Trinity improved its record to 14-3 with the four wins Saturday.

Two of those losses were to Parklane, which won the AAA-AAAA state championship Saturday over Adams County Christian School.

Huntington, which won the state championship in 1998, defeated University Christian 28-0 in its first game of the day.

The brackets for the state tournament will be released this week.