NATCHEZ &045; When workouts began for Cathedral softball during the summer and the talk centered on goals for the fall, head coach Erin Binns got to the point quickly.

The goal was playoffs, to show that last year’s appearance in the postseason was no fluke and that Lady Wave softball was something that was going to be respected among teams in the district.

But the prediction was somewhat of a bold one &045; the Lady Wave had three seniors, one junior and lots of baby-faced players in the shadows. Yet it one was that reached fruition as the team opens the Class 1A playoffs today at Pelahatchie.

The two teams will play a best-of-three series today. The first game will start at 5 p.m.

&uot;Last year they made it for the first time, and we had four seniors last year,&uot; said Binns, an assistant last year under Cloyce Hinton. &uot;This year we have three seniors, and for most of the year we’ve had one junior. It took a lot of talking to, telling them that this is not summer ball anymore. It’s not something we do for fun. It wasn’t OK to come out, lay down and lose.&uot;

Things have taken off, including an impressive comeback win over Bogue Chitto to end the regular season. The three seniors have picked up some of the responsibility of sparking the team, but everyone started to pull together to end the season on a solid note.

The seniors &045; Jordan Chandler, Emily Stevens and Alex Roberts &045; are making their third trip to the postseason after the Lady Wave got in during their eighth-grade season.

&uot;The seniors are leaders this year,&uot; Stevens said. &uot;A lot of people come out here and don’t have much heart. We’re trying to get everybody to come out here and play with heart instead of just being on the team. This year we’re having some fun. Erin has told us to have fun but we have to be serious at the same time.&uot;

And it took some trying times to get to that point. The Lady Wave posted solid wins at times during the season but then fell back on that same Achilles heel of this season and seasons past &045; an inability to really drive the ball.

Binns admitted she and assistant Penny Daggett had some trying conversations about whether or not this bunch would get it together &045; it was never a question of potential &045; down the stretch to get into the playoffs.

The Lady Wave pounded struggling Franklin County in the final week of the season before scoring six in its final at-bat to top Bogue Chitto, the No. 2 team out of the region.

&uot;I just think we were tired of losing,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;We’re coming together, finally. We’re very young &045; we’re a really young team. It was hard at first. Some of us had never really played together before.&uot;

Defense has been the team’s biggest strength, and it’s kept the Lady Wave in ball games when the bats weren’t there. That was the situation last year when the Lady Wave lost in the opening round to Union, and that has been the driving force in practices this year.

And there have been trying times, but everyone kept pressing forward.

Chandler has emerged as the team’s biggest power threat, but the entire team has done a better job of finding the holes.

&uot;They have the potential,&uot; Binns said. &uot;If I didn’t think so, after a game I’d tell them when the next practice is and go home. I told them we hadn’t had a lot of winning seasons, but I saw the potential. They’ve all played ball since they were 5, and all of them are good ball players. They’ve just got to put everything together. Hopefully they’ll see what kind of potential they have.&uot;

The Lady Wave will turn around and visit Pelahatchie, a team that won its last region game Monday over Stringer to clinch the top spot and edge out Mize. Binns couldn’t put together a quick scouting report by practice time Tuesday with the game being moved up a day due to Cathedral’s homecoming activities on Thursday.

But regardless of the opponent, the Lady Wave just needs to be consistent at the plate.

&uot;We just have to hit,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;It comes in spurts. When one or two people hit, everybody else does. When nobody hits, nobody else does. We’ve got to stay away from that, and we’ll do well.&uot;