The Natchez Lady Bulldogs had about as easy of a season- and home-opener as a team could get.

Natchez cruised to a 19-0 victory over Amite County that was called due to the mercy rule after just one inning as Lady Trojans head softball coach Albert McKnight had seen enough.

&uot;We weren’t really tested today,&uot; said Lady Bulldogs softball coach Sue Johnson. &uot;Amite (County) is a young team, but we needed that game atmosphere.&uot;

That &uot;game atmosphere&uot; almost didn’t happen. Amite County showed up almost 20 minutes late for the 5:30 p.m. game.

Dalisa Lewis, the winning pitcher for Natchez (1-0), allowed one base runner on an error and struck out two in her only inning on the mound.

Then came the bottom of the first inning, a half-inning the Lady Bulldogs will long remember and the Lady Trojans (0-1) would rather forget.

Natchez got its 19 runs on seven hits, including four inside-the-park home runs, and eight errors and sent 25 batters to the plate, batting around the order twice.

LaToya Patterson, Althea Woodley and Leslie Patrick hit back-to-back-to-back inside-the-park home runs and Patterson added a two-run inside-the-park home run in her second at-bat of the inning.

Krystal Brown, in her second at-bat of the inning, had a three-run double that was followed by an RBI double by Karmethia Mazique. Johanna Farmer walked in a run with the bases loaded for an RBI.

Natchez scored nine runs on Amite county errors.

&uot;Some of us got good hits and some of us, our timing is off,&uot; coach Johnson said. &uot;What I do like is that our team’s showing a lot of spirit.&uot;

Natchez will next play in the Warren Central Tournament this Saturday.

&uot;We will be tested this weekend against Warren Central and Vicksburg and a few teams in that tournament,&uot; said coach Johnson.

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