Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATCHEZ — Coming off a third-place finish in a very competitive MAIS District 4-4A and a berth in the Class 4A South State Playoffs in the summer/fall of 2020, the Cathedral High School Lady Green Wave will look for better results in 2021.

To get there, Cathedral’s varsity softball team is playing in a new classification and district — MAIS District 3-5A. The only common district opponent from the previous two seasons will be cross-town rival Adams County Christian School.

Joining District 3-5A will be St. Aloysius High School, Central Hinds Academy, Copiah Academy and MAIS newcomer St. Joseph Catholic School – Madison, also known as Madison St. Joe.

“There are six teams in this district and only four advance to the playoffs. A lot of new teams we’ll be playing this year for a district championship,” Cathedral head softball coach Craig Beesley said.

Softball tryouts for the Lady Green Wave are Thursday and  Friday at the softball field at the school from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

“We’ll put them through some drills for tryouts,” Beesley said. He said that practice begins next Monday at 5 p.m., also at the softball field.

As for the team that the Lady Green Wave will field this season, Beesley said, “We have a big senior class coming back. We graduated two seniors in Allie Feltus and Anna Poole, so we’ll miss them. But we’re looking forward to a good season.

“I’m looking forward to Lauren Dunbar being one of our leaders this season. They’re all good players. Hopefully some of the younger players will step up. We have a good group of ninth-graders on the team,” Beesley added.

Cathedral went 9-10 overall last year, including a 1-2 mark in the Class 4A South State Playoffs. The Lady Green Wave lost to eventual state champion Hillcrest Christian School 5-2 in the first round. They eliminated Central Hinds 10-0 in a losers’ bracket game before being eliminated themselves by Simpson Academy 14-5.

In addition to the playoff game against Central Hinds, Cathedral faced off with St. Aloysius early in the regular season last year and came away with a 10-0 victory.

“Those are the only two teams that we played last year. St. Joe Madison is new to the MAIS. Copiah Academy has always been good in fast-pitch softball over the years. We’ve played most of them before, but not on a consistent basis, so we haven’t had much familiarity with them,” Beesley said.

Even with playing in a new district against a lot of new teams, Beesley said the team’s goal is to win the district championship and perhaps make a deep playoff run.

“That’s always a goal we set,” Beesley said. “It’s hard to say right now with the new teams that we’ve never faced before. Hopefully, we can go out and compete for a district championship.”

Cathedral begins its season on Friday, July 30 on the road against Centreville Academy, which won the Class 2A state championship last year. The Green Wave have been bumped all the way up to Class 4A for the next two years in the “All Other Sports” category, in which the smallest class is now Class 2A and goes up to Class 6A.