After having two games cancelled this week, the Vidalia Lady Vikings will face a foe today that knows them better than probably any opponent they have faced this season.

The Vidalia High softball field, the players will take on their parents to help raise money for the Vidalia Lower Elementary Relay for Life team. The Lady Vikings will see quite a bit of action as they take on their moms in the first fast-pitch game and then play their fathers in a second. Admission to the event is $2 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under.

“This is one of the last things we will do. Our deadline for turning in the money we raised is May 4, and we’re real excited,” Vidalia Lower Elementary Relay For Life team captain Kimberly Evans said. “Relay For Life is a great cause because everybody is affected by cancer.

“It is a great a cause and that is exactly why we are doing it,” Vidalia head softball coach Jeannie Hall said.

Hall, while not having any children of her own on her team, will handle the pitching duties for the parents. Hall said she would also represent some parents that will not be able to play in the game.

“All 17 players are my girls,” she said.

In February, the Vidalia Lower Elementary team, consisting of 58 members, set a goal of $5,000. As of a week ago, the team has raised $5,100. Evans said the team has held bake sales at school, sponsored jeans days, sold yester-year portraits and held an effective coin drive.

“Nobody thought we would make it, but the heavens opened and poured out the money,” Evans said. “Hats off to all the kids and parents, they are responsible.”

In addition to raising money, Evans said that her team also tried to raise cancer awareness by wearing different colors that represented different types of cancers during the month of March. She said 18 cancers were represented, each on a different day.

“Everybody participated, Ms. Polk and her staff,” she said.

Evans said thanks go out to everybody at Vidalia Lower Elementary that helped the team reach their goal. She said Principal Doris Polk was supportive from the very start.

“This game would not be possible if not coach Hall, her assistant coaches, Eddie Beech and Graham Roberts, and her players,” she said. “I encourage the community to come out, see this game and support us.”