Jena’s offense, Lady Vikings’ errors lead to 10-3 Vidalia loss
Published 12:18 am Wednesday, March 14, 2012
VIDALIA — The Jena High School softball team put the ball in play Tuesday night against home-standing Vidalia High School, and the Lady Vikings had trouble fielding it at times as Jena tallied 12 hits and forced seven Vidalia errors to get the 10-3 win.
The win dropped the Lady Vikings to 1-2 in LHSAA District 3-3A, and head coach Gary Parnham said Vidalia still has a way to go to compete with the top teams in the district.
“This was a quality opponent tonight, and we are not on that level right now,” Parnham said. “We knew coming in we had work to do to get on that level.”
Parnham said he did like what he saw from the Lady Vikings after a four-run third inning and a two-run fourth inning gave Jena a 7-0 advantage.
“I learned we have a lot of fight on this team,” Parnham said. “We got down that far and just kept digging and digging.”
Vidalia pushed across its first run in the top of the fourth when Taylor Rodgers came around to score on an Emily Meyers RBI single.
Jena pushed its lead to 9-1 in the top of the fifth on a two-RBI double by Hannah Randall. Randall finished her night 3-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs.
Vidalia scored again in the bottom of the fifth when Katlyn Thornton drove in Kelsee Partridge with a double to make the game 9-2.
Jena got its final run in the top of the seventh, Vidalia followed with a run in the bottom of the inning when Kennedy Beard came around to score on a Laura Perilloux single.
Perilloux took the loss for the Lady Vikings. She went the full seven innings and gave up 10 runs on 12 hits while walking two and striking out two. Only four of the Jena runs were earned.
Vidalia finished with six hits on the night. Perilloux had two of those hits, while Partridge, Rodgers and Meyers each singled.
Thornton’s double was Vidalia’s only extra-base hit, as Jena pitcher Carmeisha Howard was able to hold down a Lady Viking offense that was hot last week. Howard struck out 11 Vidalia batters in the game.
The loss drops the Lady Vikings to 9-6 overall on the season. They will face Buckeye in another district contest Thursday on the road.
Natchez High 11, Vidalia 9
VIDALIA — What was originally scheduled to be a junior varsity game between Natchez High and Vidalia instead ended up being a varsity game Tuesday afternoon.
And what a game it turned out to be. Natchez High rallied from an early 7-0 deficit to stun the Lady Vikings in this five-inning contest.
After being held scoreless in the first two innings, Natchez High’s bats came alive. The Lady Bulldogs scored one run in the top of the third inning and followed that up with six runs in the top of the fourth inning. They completed the amazing comeback with four runs in the top of the fifth.
Michaela Hutchins was the winning pitcher for Natchez High (2-6). Kayla Gilmore and Holly Waterman were outstanding at the plate for the Lady Bulldogs. Gilmore went 4-for-4 with three doubles and Waterman was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
Natchez High doesn’t play again until next Tuesday at Cathedral. The JV game gets under way at 5 p.m. and will be followed by the varsity game at 6 p.m.