NATCHEZ — The Cathedral High School Lady Green Wave players didn’t have their minds set on softball Friday night, and head coach Gary Blackwell said it was evident in their 13-3 loss to Loyd Star High School.

Elizabeth Smith took the loss for Cathedral, pitching seven innings and allowing nine walks and five strikeouts.

Loyd Star got off to a quick start, scoring three runs in the first and second innings each.

“We didn’t come out to play, we didn’t have any energy,” Blackwell said. “It was just a bad night. It started off bad, and we never could overcome it.”

Cathedral allowed two more runs to fall behind 8-0 before receiving any sign of offense from Tori Edwards.

Edwards, a senior, went three-for-four from the plate and hit a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Lady Green Wave its first run.

That run wasn’t the last of Edwards, who ended a two-run seventh inning with a single to bring in Mackenzie Watts. Though Cathedral got two runs off, they allowed Loyd Star four runs in the final inning to fall 13-3.

Blackwell said he was pleased with Edwards’ effort to revive her team.

“She stepped it up for us,” he said. “She was patient at the plate and got some good pitches. She was struggling a little bit (earlier this season), so I was glad to see her step up.”

Blackwell said his main focus is getting his team into softball mode with the many distractions looming about.

“We had a lot of basketball players come in (late,) and the weather meant we didn’t have a lot of time to practice,” Blackwell said. “It’s kind of tough getting everyone together, but after this week we should be fine.”

Cathedral is a young team, Blackwell said, and the players have to rely on the upperclassmen to come together and have a successful year.

“We have to get some leadership,” Blackwell said. “We’ll come around eventually.”

Cathedral plays in the Warren Central Tournament today.