CENTREVILLE &8212; For two-and-a-half innings it appeared the Huntington Lady Hounds would avenge an 11-1 shellacking at the hands of the WCCA Lady Rams this past weekend.

Then the floodgates opened.

Six WCCA runs scored in the third inning to give the Lady Rams a 6-1 lead en route to an 8-3 victory Wednesday afternoon.

The two teams met in a playoff for the district championship. The game was played at neutral Centreville.

Huntington opened the top of the first by scoring a run when Sarah Loomis scored on a passed ball to give the Lady Hounds a 1-0 lead.

Huntington pitcher Julie Moak struggled in the first inning, walking the bases loaded with nobody out, but solid Huntington defense kept the Lady Rams from scoring.

WCCA took over in the third inning.

Rachel Rodriguez scored first on a passed ball. Caroline Walker then drove in Taylor Littleton and Bethany Fletcher to give WCCA a 3-1 lead.

It only got worse from there, as Walker scored on a sacrifice fly, Rileigh Watts scored on a passed ball and Spencer Rice scored on an error.

Walker also took over on the mound.

After allowing two hits in the first three innings, she kept the Lady Hounds off the bases until two runs scored in the top of the seventh. She allowed only four hits in the game.

Emilee Johns hit an inside-the-park home run for the Lady Hounds.

WCCA head coach Ray Olive said early-inning jitters nearly cost the team, but he was confident they would work through them.

&8220;The girls were a little nervous there at first,&8221; he said. &8220;We got the bases loaded there and didn&8217;t score. Granted, Huntington is a fine defensive team and they did a great job picking us off and getting that double steal we tried. I was confident that once we got around the order we&8217;d be fine.&8221;

Huntington head coach Marion Newman also blamed nerves as a problem.

&8220;Our pitcher was a little nervous,&8221; he said. &8220;But she&8217;s a sophomore. It just got to a point where she couldn&8217;t put the ball where they could hit it. That&8217;s been a problem all season. We get two out and do something to blow it. We only had four hits. That will kill you every time.&8221;

Olive said the biggest thing his Lady Rams would work on would be their minds.

&8220;Right now our starting catcher is hurt, but Sam Pace has done a good job filling in for her,&8221; he said. &8220;That shouldn&8217;t be a problem for us. The biggest issue for us will be mental. At this point you&8217;ve practiced all you can practice. In the playoffs you need to be in a proper mental state.&8221;