VIDALIA, La. – Gary Parnham’s Vidalia Lady Vikings continued their hot start on Thursday as they pushed their record to 9-1 on the year with a 10-0 home win over Monterey.

Vidalia scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead, but Parnham said he was not satisfied with the way his club played in the early portions of the contest.

&uot;I am disappointed with the approach we took to this game,&uot; he said. &uot;We got off to a slow start, but thankfully we played much better over the final couple of innings.&uot;

The biggest inning for the Lady Vikings was the second, as they tacked on five runs to extend the their advantage to 7-0. Jaci Deweese had the big hit of the inning when she pushed across three runs with a bases clearing double that scored Carla Crofford, Jenny Watson and Amanda Strickland.

The 7-0 lead was more than enough for Strickland, as she kept the Lady Wolves’ hitters off balance the entire contest.

&uot;Amanda hit her spots well today, and when she does that she can be very difficult to hit against,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;She is not an overpowering pitcher, but she has the ability to dominate when she works the corners.&uot;

The senior pitcher tossed all five innings while limiting Monterey to just one hit (an infield single). She also recorded eight strikeouts.

Heather Miller led Vidalia at the plate by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Strickland helped her own cause by finishing 2-for-3, and Stephanie Elliot also went 2-for-3 and picked up 3 RBI. Up next for the Lady Vikings is a tough contest against Oak Grove in the first round of a tournament held in Winnsboro on Saturday.

&uot;We are starting to get into the meat of our schedule,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;Oak Grove will be a tough test for us on Saturday, because they always have strong teams. Next week we really get started in the district, so we really need to hit our stride. Right now we are not playing as well as we are capable of playing, but I think we are slowly getting there.&uot;