MONROE, La. — The Vidalia Lady Vikings swept a pair of games Saturday at the Neville Tournament. But it was the way they won those two games that showed how much character and determination they have.

Having to get up at 6 a.m. to travel from Vidalia to Monroe for a 9 a.m. game against Rayville, it appeared that the Lady Vikings just weren’t in it. But starting in the bottom of the third inning, Vidalia’s bats started to wake up and Rayville was in for a ball game after all.

And the game eventually, and amazingly, went into extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lauren Seacrest singled in pinch-runner Savannah McCarver with the game-winning run as Vidalia rallied for a 7-6 win over the Lady Hornets.

With the international tie-breaker in play, McCarver started at second base. But she didn’t stay there very long.

“They showed some character, especially in the overtime, extra-inning game,” Vidalia head coach Gary Paul Parnham said.

Rayville appeared to be in good position to win the game as it had a 6-3 lead over Vidalia after scoring two runs in the top of the seventh inning. But Vidalia answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game going.

Laura Perilloux pitched all eight innings to pick up the victory. She allowed just five hits, struck out seven and walked just two batters and she had a double at the plate. Seacrest ended up going 3-for-4.

The second game was a lot easier for the Lady Vikings as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Lakeside before the Lady Warriors went to bat in the first inning and rolled to a 5-2 win Saturday afternoon.

Once again Perilloux pitched a complete game masterpiece. Despite not striking out a single batter, she allowed just one hit, walked two and got plenty of her from the defense behind her. Vidalia committed just one error in the game.

“Laura’s a solid pitcher. She’s a tough kid. She’s a presence on the mound. She hits her spots. We’re going to get good outings from her. We’ve got to have good defense behind her,” Parnham said. “She pitched 15 innings today. That shows you something about her character and how tough she is.”

For the second straight game, Seacrest went 3-for-4 at the plate. She had a double and two runs batted in. Kelsee Partridge, who had a double in the comeback win over Rayville, went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.

For the two games, Vidalia (3-3) had a combined 20 hits – 11 hits against Rayville and nine against Lakeside.

“For the whole tournament, we’re improving, especially defensively. If we can get our hitting to come around with our defense, we can be a good team. We showed a little bit of fight, especially with district coming around,” Parnham said. “We’ve still got a long way to go.”

The Lady Vikings play at Marksville in district action Monday afternoon.

Cathedral goes 2-0 at Neville Tournament

MONROE, La. — As it turns out, Vidalia wasn’t the only local fast-pitch softball team participating in the Neville Tournament. Cathedral played a couple of games Saturday and won both games in convincing fashion to start its season.

In the first game, Mollie Devening pitched a three-hit shutout and helped her cause by going 2-for-3 as the Lady Green Wave annihilated the Cedar Creek Lady Cougars 12-0 in just four innings.

Mollie Devening struck out three and walked three batters over her four innings. Kimble Devening also went 2-for-3. Cathedral scored five runs in the top of the second inning to break a scoreless ball game and put up five more runs in the top of the fourth to give the Lady Green Wave a 12-0 lead.

The second game saw Cathedral score 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning in the Lady Green Wave’s 12-2 win over the Farmerville Lady Farmers. Farmerville took a 1-0 lead before Cathedral went to bat, but that led didn’t last very long.

Mollie Devening only pitched one inning, but was credited with the win. Ginny Daggett pitched the final three innings and ended up striking out six batters to go along with her 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Devening and McKenzie Milligan each went 2-for-3 with a double and Beth Fortenberry had a double.

Cathedral (2-0) returns to action next Tuesday when it plays at Wesson.