NATCHEZ &8212; If only Trinity head coach Lacie Johnson could count the junior high games as official and the varsity games as warm-up games.

That&8217;s what the Lady Saints are basically playing with &8212; a junior high team on the varsity level.

During Tuesday&8217;s contest at Adams Christian, the junior high game was more competitive than the 15-5 decision that followed. The Lady Rebels scored 11 runs in the final three innings to end it in six and put their record back at .500 for the season at 6-6.

For the Lady Saints, if it wasn&8217;t for senior Mallory Archer starting in the outfield, you&8217;d swear it was the junior high team out taking the field. It&8217;s the first team for Trinity to field in slow-pitch softball in three seasons.

&8220;None of the girls have played with each other,&8221; Johnson said. &8220;We&8217;re trying to get the girls&8217; program started back at Trinity and get the fast-pitch going. We&8217;re trying to get the girls more involved and give them something to do out there. You can see how young we are, and the older ones haven&8217;t played in three, four or five years.&8221;

The Lady Rebels may not be senior-laiden, but they&8217;re much more experienced and haven&8217;t had their program idle for the past three seasons. They broke away from a 4-3 lead heading into their half of the fourth to the 10-run victory in six innings.

But even in the 15-run, 18-hit performance, the Lady Rebels could use some improvements at the plate as well.

&8220;I didn&8217;t feel like we hit it as well as we have been until a week ago,&8221; Adams head coach Rick Fife said. &8220;I thought we hit too many fly balls. I thought we were out on our front foot too much, and I think we struggled at the plate. We just had some key hits.

&8220;About the last two or three games we&8217;ve been hitting too many fly balls. I think the last two games we&8217;ve had at least 15 fly outs. I feel like they&8217;re trying to do too much.&8221;

The biggest key hits came in the seventh to end the game an inning early. Alex Foster&8217;s single turned into an inside-the-park home run thanks to two errors, and Katie Ann Swinny&8217;s second triple in two innings drove in Madelyn Lewis for a 14-5 lead.

Jessica Porter slapped another triple to score Swinny and end the game.

In the fifth, the Lady Rebels (6-6) got three runs quick with Ariana DeLaSalle&8217;s double scoring Swinny and Jessica Porter. Hannah Southerland&8217;s single scored DeLaSalle for an 11-5 lead.

The defense picked up for the Lady Rebels in the later innings after they committed two errors in the first. They threw out two runners at second base in the sixth inning, and they ended the fourth inning with a double play when Caroline Ketching flied out to right and Sarah Brumfield was thrown out trying to reach third base.

Brumfield had drove home two runs with a single.

&8220;I feel like we did a little better today defensively,&8221; Fife said. &8220;We&8217;ve got new people playing some positions. I feel like our right side is a little more seasoned because they played last year. We lost our left side to graduation. I think the key to the rest of the season is going to be the seniors and how much leadership they&8217;re going to show.&8221;

The shot answered Trinity&8217;s biggest key hit of the game when M.C. Iles slapped a triple down the line in right field to score Olivia Walden and Caroline Ketchings.