VIDALIA, La. &045; A quick look around the infield will indicate it’s a different era this spring with Vidalia softball.

No Miranda Doughty, Jenny Watson or Heather Miller. Instead there are a number of new faces, two infielders who are new to fast-pitch softball and a coach who won a state championship last season but knows this year the Lady Vikings are starting over in many respects.

After Thursday’s 3-2 loss to Harrisonburg, VHS head coach Gary Paul Parnham opted to stay positive. A loss like this might have frustrated him, but now it’s about taking one step at a time.

&uot;I knew coming in we’d be a young team,&uot; said Parnham, who has one starter, Emily Raley, back in the infield from a season ago. &uot;I’m taking positives out of this. We had no errors, and that’s great. Last time we had about seven. We hit balls right to them, but those balls will eventually fall. They didn’t fall today. We’re going to get better. It’s going to take a while to get there.&uot;

It may be a matter of time for this crop of players to blossom, just as the class of seniors from a year ago did in time to claim the 2A title last spring. The Lady Vikings got a solid outing on the mound for Christy Corley, a pitcher who threw no varsity innings last year, and were victims of little bloopers and bleeders by the Lady Bulldogs, who stacked them together to scored three in the sixth.

The Lady Bulldogs, too, are rebuilding a bit, and Harrisonburg head coach Michelle Griffing can relate.

&uot;We finally got the bat on the ball (in the sixth),&uot; she said. &uot;It was their third at-bat, and they finally put a bat on the ball. It was just some bloopers that got in, and we were able to score. This is only (Vidalia’s) second game, and I’m sure they’ll get better. We lost six seniors last year, and we’re trying to work some new people in. We’re making some errors, but we’re going to work that out.&uot;

Corley was on a roll with a no-hitter through five innings for the Lady Vikings before the Lady Bulldogs got those little bloopers and breaks in the sixth to take the lead.

Beth Chapman led off with a little bloop single to right, and Julie Renfroe followed with a single with one out.

Jenna Pentecost then bunted both runners up a base, and Kirby Johnson’s single scored Chapman for the first run. Chelsea Hamilton then singled in Renfroe to tie it up, and Johnson scored on a wild pitch to take the 3-2 lead.

The Lady Vikings had a chance to tie the game in their final at-bat but came up short.