Give the girls a break! No, it’s not that bad, just like to make the ladies feel good about their athletics now and then. Gary Paul Parnham is surely feeling good about the young ladies who make up his crackerjack Vidalia High girls softball team!

Parnham may be kinda new as Vidalia High’s girls softball coach, but he’s found himself a home as far as his girls are concerned. Miranda Doughty had it on the mound for a Vidalia ladies softball team that won the Louisiana state title in Sulphur Saturday. She fired two shutouts in the title run!

A total of 14 batters bit the dust before Miranda’s fastball Saturday. And some say softball pitching isn’t that important. Don’t believe it.

Vidalia is located right next to Natchez, and the twin Mississippi River cities like it when either school makes it to the top. State championships are hard to come by, so Vidalia has Natchez and Ferriday to help as close-by neighbors to celebrate.

Miss-Lou champs are Miss-Lou champs, and coach Gary Paul Parnham’s Vidalia state titlists sure look good right up front. A championship team at 25-6-1 stands out. Coach Parnham and his Lady Vikings thus look good &045; again, right up front!

LSU, meantime, isn’t doing bad in Southeastern Conference baseball! Nate Bumstead had too much from the mound Sunday for State, which lost 6-1 to the Tigers. But MSU is going strong this baseball season, and all but swept the Tigers, losing only the last game.

Mississippi State and LSU are looking each other right in the eye, standings-wise. The 18th-ranked Dogs are 14-9 in the SEC and 33-13 overall, while LSU is now 32-16-1 overall and 16-7-1 in the conference.

Mississippi State fought hard to cause a log-jam at the top of the league, but the Bulldogs just couldn’t do it behind starter Todd Nicholas and two or three other pitchers. But the Bullies are in the thick of the SEC race. And that’s a solid place to be.

SEC baseball is top-caliber college baseball. What do they say: Live with it?

Hurried Hash … I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You better watch &uot;them&uot; Brown boys. Take old dad Louie Brown, plus sons Doug, Dean and Dwayne, and you have a family of top athletes. In high school football all four were standouts at Natchez High. Again, all standouts … And last weekend the four Browns got together to fire a final-round 57 to take the championship in the popular Fortunato (that’s Joe) Celebrity Golf Classic at Duncan Park. Someone said, &uot;They done it up brown.&uot;

… Don’t think this year is the first time Delta State ever tasted baseball fame; no sir! DSU has made it to 21 NCAA Division II regional baseball appearances. Aching for another World Series shot, the green-clad Statesmen will be after yet another &uot;cap&uot; during this year’s 21st regional appearance. Better watch ole Boo Ferriss’ school.

… Medalist Dow Taylor of Jackson showed out Sunday at Beau Pr Country Club. High winds didn’t faze Dow as he fired a steady 1-under-par 71 over Beau Pr’s pretty layout. Shootin’ for a spot in Mississippi’s MGA State Amateur Championship June 5-8, Taylor steadily made his way to the top of local qualifiers … Hats off also to Natchez’s popular &uot;Chi Chi&uot; Barnes. He’s a close, close second locally as the State Amateur comes up at Tupelo Country Club June 5-8.

Glenvall Estes is a longtime columnist for The Natchez Democrat.