NATCHEZ — With teammate Brooke Collier standing on first with two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Reagan Diesel’s Rebecca Ratcliff laced a line drive deep to right field.

The lanky third baseman trotted down the first base line before kicking it into high gear as the ball got past the Natchez Women’s Center outfield, and raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

The two-run homer gave her squad a five-run advantage and Reagan Diesel went on to win by that margin, 6-1, notching its second win of the season in 11-12 year old Ponytails division of the Natchez-Adams Girls Softball League.

“That’s my first time getting a home run,” Rebecca said. “I almost slipped on third. It was an amazing feeling.”

Reagan Diesel (2-2) coach Dan Ratcliff said Friday’s win was a big one, considering the team suffered a gut-wrenching defeat to Guedon Farms Tuesday night.

“I was really pleased with our team,” Dan said. “(Tuesday night), we are up 5-0, and they rallied back to beat us 8-6 … But this was a good rally for us.”

Regan Diesel also received a sharp pitching effort from starter Abby Fielder, who tossed 3.2 strong innings.

“Abby gave us all she had (Friday),” Dan said.

Natchez Women’s Center pitcher Laiken Davis was equally effective as the right-handed hurler three batters in her three innings in the circle.

Despite missing a number of key players, NWC coach Stephanie Davis said she was pleased with the way her team performed.

“We had some errors — we were missing our third and first baseman,” Stephanie said. “We had to pull some outfielders (into the infield), but I’m proud of them.”

Reagan Diesel took advantage of its speed throughout the game, constantly taking the extra base when given the opportunity.

“This is probably the fastest team I’ve had in four years,” Dan said. “Since we can steal bases and take more bases, that has been very helpful to our team this year.”

Reagan Diesel will be back in action at 6 p.m. Monday against Guedon Farms.

Natchez Women’s Center plays Stewart Realty at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’ve got to start swinging the bats,” Stephanie said. “That’s my key at practice. They can hit all day at practice, then get out here and just not swing. I’d rather see them go down swinging.”