VIDALIA — It might have taken a loss on the first day of the 12-year-old Ozone State Tournament to do it, but Concordia Parish’s bats were alive and well in a 16-2 win against Pineville Saturday.

Helping Concordia Parish find its groove was an early workout session at head coach Shaun McDonald’s Double Play Academy, where the team met for batting practice three-and-a-half hours before the first pitch.

“We usually get here about an hour before, but every one of the kids said they wanted to come and hit to try and figure things out,” said McDonald, after his team totaled five hits in a 4-3 loss to Haughton Friday. “Facing elimination, none of them wanted to go home.”

Though Concordia Parish scored 16 runs and amassed 13 hits, the team did most of its damage when the batters let the bat rest on their shoulders. A combined five Pineville pitchers struggled to throw strikes in the loss to Concordia Parish, tallying 12 walks in the loss.

McDonald said he wanted to see his All-Star team show patience at the plate and get ahead in the count.

“We stressed hitting first-pitch fastballs, and basically, if it’s a strike, hit the baseball,” McDonald said. “Yesterday, I thought we let it get away from us, so we told them today not to give up and keep going.”

After scoring two runs in the first, Concordia Parish added four more in the second, with three of the runs drawn by walks.

Concordia Parish made things interesting in the second inning, committing two errors that allowed Pineville to score two runs, bringing the game to 6-2.

However, a five-run third inning and five-run fifth inning, which was cut short due to lightning in the area, allowed Concordia Parish to walk away with the sizeable victory.

Matt Petty led Concordia Parish at the plate, going 2-3 with a home run. Rhet McDonald was 2-for-3 with two singles, and Caleb Smith and Brett Walsworth were 2-for-4 with singles. Sam Mosby collected a double in the win for Concordia Parish, as well.

Concordia Parish centerfielder Peyton Fort, who was 1-for-2 with a single, made the defensive play of the game by throwing out Coleman Jeansome at home plate to end the fourth inning.

With the victory, Concordia Parish advances to play at 2:30 p.m. today.