NATCHEZ &045; Claire Kenda’s heart was set on not playing softball this fall.

But she was open to the idea. So first-year head coach Gary Blackwell made his best sales pitch to the senior who is one of the school’s better athletes in the hope the Lady Wave would have some talented seniors on the roster.

The team lost three key seniors from a year ago. And it was Kenda’s senior year.

What the heck?

After Monday’s season-opener, there may not be a regret to be found. Kenda drove in four runs as part of a Cathedral lineup that hammered out 17 hits in a 20-10 washing of Franklin County in six innings.

&uot;I played my freshman year,&uot; said Kenda, who also does cross country, track and basketball at CHS. &uot;I’ve always played slow-pitch, and I loved it. I just felt like school was too much pressure. I wanted to do it my senior year. Coach wanted people to come out and asked me, and he talked me into it.&uot;

Kenda hit cleanup and played three positions in the game, but the she came through with two two-run singles that sparked big innings for the Lady Wave. Kenda is one of four seniors on the roster this fall with Caitlin Huffines, Mattie Smith and Kari Guido, and plenty may be asked of them after the trio of Jordan Chandler, Emily Stevens and Alex Roberts were key cogs in last year’s team that went into the third round of the playoffs.

&uot;She played fast-pitch in the spring, and she wasn’t going to play slow-pitch,&uot; Blackwell said. &uot;I talked to her and got her to come on out. Claire is the type that she’s very competitive. It’s her senior year. This is just one more sport she can do and have some fun at.

&uot;We’ve got four seniors this year who are giving us some good leadership. We lost three, but we gained four. And we’ve got some younger players who are hitting the ball just as well as anybody.&uot;

And the seniors’ presence, quite honestly, was soothing for a team that may have had some jitters early &045; if anyone had any at all. Maybe the coaching staff had them in the first game of the season, but the Lady Wave really got hot at the plate in the later innings and took advantage of 15 walks.

Caitlin Huffines and Smith hit consecutive home runs in the fourth that broke up an 8-8 tie.

&uot;I think coach was afraid we hadn’t gotten much practice time,&uot; Kenda said. &uot;I guess we turned out all right. We came out ready to play. I think our seniors really stepped it up, but we’ve got some good underclassmen coming up. Even after we graduate, the next couple of years we should be really good. We put it together tonight, and it showed.&uot;

The Lady Wave struggled some in the early innings after leaving eight baserunners stranded through three, but the home runs may have got things going. The next inning on defense Cathedral retired Franklin County in order &045; the only time that happened the entire game &045; and run up six runs in its half of the fifth.

A huge two-base error on a ball hit by Kalin Kirkwood with the bases loaded brought home Megan Whittington and Dani Roberts, and Kenda came up with the bases loaded and drove home Kristina Brumfield and Kirkwood for a 14-8 lead.

Huffines later singled with two outs to score Elizabeth Blackwell and Kenda for a 16-8 lead.

&uot;We did struggle on our pitching,&uot; Franklin County head coach Dana Smith said. &uot;They’re actually veteran pitchers. I don’t know. It’s our third ball game, and they just have to bow up and play with us. That was a good bunch of girls. They fielded the ball well.&uot;

The Lady Dawgs scored two in the sixth to trim the lead, but Cathedral kept it going in the bottom half to end the game an inning early. Roberts and Jennie Allen each singled in a run before Brumfield and Kirkwood reached base on walks. That set up Elizabeth Blackwell’s single that scored Brumfield and Kirkwood to end the game.

&uot;We didn’t do any regular batting practice &045; just the regular routine,&uot; Gary Blackwell said. &uot;They put it together. When it was time to start, they put it together.&uot;

I think we still have some work to do. We saw what we need to work on, and we can get better from here.&uot;

Franklin County started the game with a 5-4 lead thanks to a three-run homer from Monea Cameron in the second inning. Cathedral scored four in the first and scored another in the second before leaving the bases loaded.

That tied the score, but the Lady Dawgs came up empty in the third before Cathedral scored three in the bottom half.