MEADVILLE &045; Rain washed them out in Natchez Thursday, but Natchez High and Cathedral were still able to square off this week at the Franklin County Invitational softball tournament.

After cruising by each’s first game opponents, the Bulldogs and Green Wave squared off in the winner’s bracket.

A fairly close 5-2 ballgame was busted wide open in the Natchez half of the fifth when the Bulldogs scored five runs on three Cathedral errors.

&uot;We got to practice Tuesday, and that was the last time we picked up a glove because of the rain,&uot; Green Wave head coach Clyoce Hinton said. &uot;We were a little rusty. You could see the heat getting to them. When the heat is there the mind drifts.&uot;

Natchez sandwiched the vicory over its cross-town rival between wins over West Lincoln and Bogue Chitto.

The Bulldogs captured the one-day tournament last Saturday, with a mistake-filled 6-5 win over West Lincoln again.

After Chelsea Hall led off the top of the fifth with a walk, Tracy Davis got things started for Natchez with a single to center. Davis was quickly retired on a fielder’s choice from pitcher Krystal Arnold, who reached base on the grounder but was pinch ran for by Rosetta Ikard.

It appeared as though the Green Wave would get out of the inning unscathed on a Honda Griffin, but Leighton McDaniel’s throw to second sailed into right field.

Sarah Weaver, who was 2 for 3 with a double, followed with a hard grounder that went off the toe of the Cathedral shortstop’s glove, scoring both Ikard and Griffin for a 7-2 advantage.

LaToya Patterson reached base on an error, and score along with Weaver ona two-RBI single from Bil-Leigh Lewis for a 9-2 lead.

&uot;We’re on fire the way our bats are going right now,&uot; Bulldogs head coach Leigh Anne Mason said. &uot;We watched them (Cathedral) after our game this morning, and went in playing defense and hitting the ball well.&uot;

Marie Williams rounded out that vital fifth inning with a RBI-single that scored Ashley Mitchell, who has reached base via a walk.

Cathedral loaded the bases in its half of the fifth only to see Natchez third baseman Chelsea Hall turn a nice 5-3 double play to end the inning and keep no runs from counting.

&uot;We were brain dead running the bases a couple of times,&uot; Hinton said. &uot;I had two girls who just quit running to first base. I still don’t know why.&uot;

The Green Wave got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the opening inning. Laura Huffines led things off by reaching base on an error.

Mattie Smith collected the RBI and the game’s first run when she knocked Huffines in with a single.

&uot;We hit it decent, but we had men on base a couple of times and didn’t get them in,&uot; Hinton said. &uot;Natchez has a good ball club. The hit the ball better than us.&uot;

Natchez responded immediately with four runs in the top half of the second, highlighted by a one-out, 2-RBI double from Weaver.

&uot;Sarah has been concentrating hard at the plate. Sometimes she’ll take it to a full count before she picks out her pitch,&uot; Mason said. &uot;She’s quick so a lot of times she’ll turn a single into a double. She plays smart and aggressive out in the field for us too.&uot;

Cathedral sliced its deficit into half, 4-2, when pitcher Brandi McGraw dropped a two-out RBI single in front of Ashley Mitchell in left field.

The Bulldogs got the run right back in the third, when again it was Weaver who came through at an opportune time.

With two already retired, Weaver scored Hall from second on a RBI single in the gap between left and center fields.

&uot;I told them to focus in on what they were hitting on the ball,&uot; Mason said. &uot;We’ve been working to keep our line drives in the middle. Cathedral made some errors and we capitalized on them.&uot;

Both coaches said the No. 1 priority for their players Saturday was to keep everyone healthy. Hinton merry-go-rounded his lineup to keep every player hydrated and fresh.

Mason preached eating fruit and finding shade during the time in between games Saturday.

&uot;Most of these girls play tournament ball during the summer,&uot; Mason said. &uot;Playing in a tournament like this gets you into game situations, and helps out a lot. Practice can get old after a while.&uot;

Hinton looked at it as an opportunity to see what district 7-1A opponents West Lincoln, Bogue Chitto and Enterprise look like and also a learnig experience.

&uot;We’ve got a lot of young girls. We play with four seniors, but that still leaves six players on the field who are not,&uot; he said. &uot;They’re still learning right now, but we’ll be OK.&uot;