NATCHEZ — Going into the second-round playoff series against Bogue Chitto, Cathedral softball coach Gary Blackwell correctly predicted the outcome.

Blackwell said the team that made the fewest mistakes would win. Unfortunately for the Lady Wave, it was Bogue Chitto that fielded more cleanly in game one of the series Thursday, earning the Lady Cats a 10-8 victory.

“With these two teams, it’s whoever makes the least amount of errors that will come out on top, and we made too many errors today,” Blackwell said.

“This is the first time we’ve been in (the second round), and I’m sure the nerves were there. Hopefully we got that out of us, and we can go there (today) and take care of business.”

Down 6-2 at one point, the Lady Wave managed to tie the game 8-8 and force it into extra innings. The Lady Cats came through with runners on, however, and added two more runs to their column.

In the bottom of the eighth, Cathedral loaded the bases, but failed to score a run when Bogue Chitto pitcher Rheagan Welch retired the side on two strikeouts and a ground out.

“We only needed one hit,” Blackwell said. “The girls were trying so hard, but just weren’t catching up to the ball. I’ll give their pitcher credit, she got it together when she needed to.”

Because the game went into extra innings, both teams got to have a runner start out on second base in the top and bottom of the eighth. Blackwell said he’s not a fan of the extra-inning rules applying at the start of the eighth inning.

“I really don’t think they should start that so early,” he said. “I think they should go an inning or two, and then if it’s still tied, then you start that. Still, it didn’t hurt us, because we got to begin with a runner on second just like they did.”

Lady Wave pitcher Mollie Devening went the distance for Cathedral, striking out five.

“She did a good job today,” Blackwell said. “I don’t know how many errors we had, but it was a lot. You’ve got to help her out on defense. We’d have missed plays on grounders, and there were two or three innings where we should have been out of it, and they scored runs.”

Bogue Chitto opening things up with four runs in the first inning, and added two more in the second. Cathedral hung close however. In the first inning, an RBI double by Mollie Devening scored a run.

Three more runs scored in the second on a Beth Fortenbery solo home run and an errant throw that allowed two more Cathedral runners to cross home plate.

Bogue Chitto added one run each in the fifth and sixth innings, giving it an 8-4 lead. Cathedral came roaring back in the sixth inning, though, when Kimble Devning started things off with a double that scored Ginny Daggett. A fielder’s choice by Mollie Devening sent home Kimble Devening, and Shannon Mire doubled in two more Lady Wave runs.

With the loss, Cathedral (19-9) heads to Bogue Chitto today for a 5 p.m. game in hopes of forcing a game three in the series. If the Lady Wave do win game two, the third game will begin soon afterwards.

“It’s going to be tough, but this team has fought back all year, and they’ve been in this situation a few times,” Blackwell said. “We’re a team that can do it, and I think we’ll be more relaxed for the second game.”