MERIDIAN – Both Cathedral and Clarkdale could be viewed as being in the same situation.

Both teams are young and in what most would consider rebuilding years.

But that’s where the similarities ended Friday.

Clarkdale used some timely hitting and tough outfield defense as the Lady Bulldogs swept a first-round Class 2A playoff series from the Lady Green Wave by scores of 5-0 and 14-2. Clarkdale improves to 21-10 on the season and will advance to second-round play versus the winner of St. John’s and Ackerman.

If St. John’s wins, Clarkdale will hit the road against their old nemesis.

&uot;We’re just glad to get to the second round,&uot; veteran Clarkdale skipper Rick Roberson said. &uot;You always want to get past the first round. Now we have an opportunity to make it to the state tournament but it will be a tough task. It will take a better effort if we are going to advance again.&uot;

But Friday, the Lady Bulldogs had the Lady Green Wave in their sights. The first game appeared as if it would be a blowout. After Cathedral went down in order in the first, Clarkdale scratched out all five of its runs in the bottom half of the first. After Ashley Shelby led off with a double, JorD’an Orr reached on a walk. Shelby was forced out on a Morgan Wright fielder’s choice. Lindsey Stamm then followed with a walk to load the bases. Orr scored the first run when Howard was walked for a 1-0 Clarkdale lead.

&uot;We were a little nervous coming out in that first game,&uot; Cathedral coach Lynn Ogden said. &uot;(Clarkdale) has a great tradition and a good team but we didn’t hit the ball at all. We lost seven seniors from last year’s team and didn’t even expect to make it this far. So I’m proud of these girls. They did a lot more than anybody thought they would.&uot;

From that point on, the game became a defensive contest as Howard didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning.

But it was erased by a 6-4-3 double play. The highlight of the game came in the sixth with Orr made a diving catch in the hole and caught the runner at second for an unassisted double play.

&uot;When we did hit the ball, they made some great defensive plays,&uot; Ogden said. &uot;We hit some balls in the outfield that drop against most of the teams we play but they have good speed in the outfield and made some tremendous catches.&uot;

On the game, Clarkdale managed only four hits but left nine on base. Cathedral ended up with five hits but left only three on base. &uot;Their pitcher really wasn’t throwing strikes and it kind of got us off balance,&uot; Roberson said. &uot;We swung at some bad pitches and couldn’t get anything going. But those five runs held up.&uot;

In the second contest, both teams continued playing good defense through the first two innings in a scoreless tie. But the Lady Bulldogs finally got on the board in the third. After Casey Meador reached on a fielder’s choice, Bethany Spidle got Clarkdale’s first hit of the game with a single. Senior Ashley Shelby then blasted a big three-run home run over the left-field wall for a 3-0 Clarkdale lead.

&uot;That was a big lift for us,&uot; Roberson said. &uot;We seemed like we started to hit the ball a little bit better after that. We needed that lift.&uot; Clarkdale then blew the game open in the fifth inning as the Lady Bulldogs sent 10 batters to the plate and pushed across six runs. Shelby had a big two-run triple in the inning while Thrash delivered a big bases-loaded singled that scored two runs for a 9-0 Clarkdale win.

Natchez did managed two runs in the fifth inning as Jessica Barrett singled to lead off the bottom of the inning. Leighton McDaniel then followed with an infield single. Alana Bedson followed with a single that scored Barrett. McDaniel then scored on a Laura Huffin fielder’s choice to round out the Lady Green Wave’s scoring.

Clarkdale then got the runs it needed for a run-rule ending in the top of the sixth as 11 batters came to the plate and five more runs scored. Orr had an RBI double in the inning and Stamm blasted a bases-clearing three-run double as the Lady Bulldogs took a 14-2 lead.

In the second game, Shelby was 3-for-4 with five RBIs while Stamm was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Orr was 2-for-4 with an RBI while Spidle was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Howard walked in all four of her at-bats.