VHS takes two of four at tourney

Published 12:00 am Monday, March 17, 2003

WINNSBORO, La. &045; Another day of tournament play had similar results for the Vidalia Lady Vikings.

They got the hits to get runners on, the breaks to move the runners up but couldn’t finish it off with a shot to bring them home as they split four games at the Winnsboro tournament Saturday.

The Lady Vikings (11-5-1) took wins over Monterey and Crowville and dropped matches to LaSalle and Oak Grove.

Email newsletter signup

The solution? Just keep swinging and don’t get frustrated.

&uot;That’s our biggest thing,&uot; Vidalia head coach Gary Paul Parnham said. &uot;We’re just struggling with that right now. Overall, it was a good tournament for us. We’re playing close, getting runners in scoring position but can’t get timely hits to get them in. The only thing I can tell my kids is to keep swinging. Eventually they’ll fall.&uot;

The lack of timely hits was the biggest thing and perhaps the only thing that was missing from the day. The Lady Vikings got stellar pitching in all four games and took LaSalle &045; last year’s Class 1A champs &045; to extra innings scoreless before allowing three in the top of the fifth and losing, 3-1.

The Lady Vikings got a triple in the fourth from Jenny Watson but were unable to get her home. Then in the fifth two errors helped LaSalle score three runs to take a 3-0 lead in the extra frame.

In the bottom half Lauren Clayton was awarded second as per the international tie-breaker rule, and she scored on a error on a ball hit by Watson with two outs. Miranda Doughty then grounded out to end the game.

Doughty threw all five innings and struck out 11 and walked none, while LaSalle starter Kendra Lindsey struck out seven and walked none.

&uot;That was a well-pitched game,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;It was a pretty good pitchers’ duel until the last inning when we made two errors, but we kept fighting. We were an out from having the winning run come to the plate.

&uot;I was real proud of my team the way they played in that last game. LaSalle is the defending champ with the same pitcher they had last year and pretty much the same team. To play them as hard as we did and tough as we did, I was proud of my kids.&uot;

The Lady Vikings started the day with a 1-0 loss to Oak Grove in five innings. Christy Corley struck out two and walked none while allowing three hits in the five-inning contest.

The Lady Vikings then took a 1-0 win over Crowville in four innings behind a solid outing from Watson on the mound. She walked one, struck out four and allowed three hits.

Jaci DeWeese doubled in the second and scored the game’s only run on an Ashley Prince single up the middle.

Vidalia then cashed in at the plate in the third game in a 12-1 win over Monterey thanks to four runs in the second and eight in the fourth. Watson had a double, went 3 for 3 and drove in four runs, while Doughty drove in two.

&uot;Until district starts, what we’re trying to do is get better,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;When district starts, that’s when we need to be clicking on all cylinders. One good thing is all three pitchers got a good bit of work, and I feel good about that.&uot;