playoff opener

By

ADAM DAIGLE

VIDALIA, La. &045; Christy Corley was already jumping around her house at 7 o’clock this morning, so she had to just stay calm.

That’s hard to do the first day of the playoffs, especially when you’ve been to the promised land already. That’s only two games away once the playoffs start, and the Vidalia Lady Vikings got one game out of the way with an 8-2 win over Farmerville to open the Class 2A playoffs.

Now jitters and overflowing adrenaline aside, the Lady Vikings just want to get past the next one to get to the state tournament at Sulphur. They’ll host Northeast Friday in a contest where the winner will get its ticket punched to the tournament.

&uot;From last night to all day today, I’ve been ready to play,&uot; said Corley, who allowed only one hit after the second inning. &uot;I’m glad to have this one under our belts. We did well. Every game you go into could be your last game. It’s kind of scary. We’re not losing any more.&uot;

That would be fine with the rest of the team, who has similar aspirations of That might have been on Corley’s mind as well as everyone else defensively after the second inning Tuesday after the Lady Farmers put up two runs to take a 2-1 lead. Corley settled in on the mound and allowed only one hit, and the defense didn’t have an error after its lone miscue of the game in the second.

Using a tricky changeup and a revamped drop ball, Corley retired 16 of the last 18 batters she faced.

&uot;That’s one of the pitches I hate to see when I’m hitting,&uot; Corley said of the change, which punched out two hitters in the late innings. &uot;Coach Parnham taught me to throw another drop ball, and it was working, too. I throw it better because I have better control of it. As a pitcher, you’ve got to put that (second inning) out of your mind, but it gives you an incentive to work harder.&uot;

It was enough to leave the Lady Farmers (15-11) firing blanks after that inning and looking up on the scoreboard.

Karol Stokes has the team’s only hit after the second inning when she singled with two outs after Jessie Myers walked, but Corley got then next batter to swing and miss at a changeup for strike three to end the inning.

&uot;We just didn’t play well,&uot; Farmerville head coach Tim Stokes said. &uot;We had bases loaded and nobody out and only got two runs (in the second). Then we had runners on second and third and couldn’t get that hit. Their pitcher did a good job. She had a change and a drop. Especially when we had two strikes, we would swing out of our shoes trying to get (the change). She mixed up her real well, which was the scouting report we got on her &045; she wouldn’t throw anything straight.&uot;

Fortunately for the Lady Vikings, they tacked on two insurance runs late in the game for an extra cushion off starter Karol Stokes. Chelsey Knapp scored on a Lauren Clayton groundout before Emily Raley singled in Bridget Waller as the Lady Vikings got their first hits of the game since that four-run second.

Karol Stokes retired 10 straight but was tagged with a run in the second when Chelsie McElwee scored on a wild pitch.