JONESVILLE — Vidalia’s fast-pitch softball dominated the first three and a half innings of its game Monday afternoon with rival Block thanks to good pitching and solid hitting.

But starting in the bottom of the fourth inning, both of those key elements that helped give the Lady Vikings a 7-1 lead slowly disappeared. And the Lady Bears took advantage as they rallied for a dramatic 8-7 win.

“We hit the ball well for about four innings and then we cooled off and theirs got hot. That was the difference in the ball game,” Lady Vikings head coach Gary Paul Parnham said.

Vidalia scored in each of the first four innings and appeared well on its way to a blowout victory on the road over its longtime non-district rival. Laura Perilloux was solid for the first three innings as well.

The Lady Vikings scored three runs in the top of the first inning and added one run in each of the next two innings for a 5-0 advantage. The Lady Bears finally broke through with one run in the bottom of the third.

Kelsee Partridge hit a two-run home run for the Lady Vikings in that three-run first inning. She had a double later in the game and ended up going 2-for-4.

Vidalia scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning. But in the bottom of the fourth, Block started its comeback. The Lady Bears got a two-run triple from Tee as they put up three runs to make it a 7-4 ball game. The Lady Vikings were blanked in the final three innings and that was another key in how the Lady Bears rallied.

“When we get off to a good start, we’ve got to keep the pressure on them. We didn’t keep hitting the ball like we did the first four innings,” Parnham said.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Tee was at it again as she blasted a two-run home run to cut Vidalia’s lead to 7-6. Partridge came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh, but she walked two batters before being replaced by Perilloux. Both of those base runners would score and Partridge was charged with the loss.

Both Vidalia and Block played excellent defense as each team committed no errors. However, the two teams combined for 23 hits.

“It was a good defensive ball game, but it was a hitter’s game,” Parnham said.

Katlyn Thompson had a pair of doubles and went 2-for-4 while Kennedy Beard and Chelsea Richard each had a double for Vidalia. Ellisa went 2-for-4 with a double and Blake was 2-for-3 with a double to lead Block.

Vidalia (4-6) plays at Cathedral today at 4 p.m. Block plays at Northwood-Lena Thursday at 4 p.m. in its District 3-1A opener.