Viola Howard of Vicksburg slides into home in front of the tag of Lawrence County catcher Gina McCloud. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

[02/23/01] The Vicksburg Missy Gators were their own worst enemy in Thursday night’s 5-4, home-opener loss to Lawrence County.

VHS (1-1) left seven runners on base in the last three innings and committed four errors in the last two that led to four Lawrence County (2-0) runs and proved to be the difference in the game.

“I thought overall we played solid. We just had a few dispy-dos here and there, and that knocked us off track. But in the overall picture we’re still in good shape,” VHS coach Josh Harper said.

Viola Howard scored two runs for VHS, one on a delayed steal of home in the bottom of the first inning and the other on a double to the left-field fence by Dana Daigre that gave the Missy Gators a 2-1 lead after three innings.

VHS had a chance to extend the lead and possibly put the game away in the bottom of the fifth, but left the bases loaded.

Lawrence County took advantage of its new life and the VHS errors by scoring two runs in the top of the top of the sixth.

Lawrence County shortstop Casey Ward started the inning with a double and catcher Gina McCloud followed with a triple to right that just cleared the glove of leaping VHS second baseman Dayna Nugent.

The next batter, right fielder Amanda Givens, reached on an error, allowing McCloud to score the go-ahead run and make it 3-2.

VHS rallied in the bottom half of the sixth, but stranded two when Howard’s two-out drive to left was snared by Robbi Dampier.

Two more VHS errors led to two more Lady Cougar runs in the top of the seventh and made it 5-2, but VHS mounted one last rally.

After loading the bases with one out, Kelsey Hudson came through with an RBI single to score Krystal Lofton and cut it to 5-3. Daigre, who had singled, then scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-4 with runners on second and third, butpitcher Ashley Davis got a strikeout and a groundout to end it.

“They came up with some lucky, and just some good plays,” Harper said. “We had some great plays of our own, too. Unfortunately they had one more than we did.”

WC 26, Murrah 0

Warren Central pounded out 13 hits, took advantage of seven errors, and the Lady Vike bench scored 15 runs in the top of the fourth to rout Murrah.

Katie Barnett went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and four RBIs, andHayley Martin was 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Ashley Vinzant had two hits, three RBIs and scored two runs in the big inning, while Cookie Johnson had a two-run home run and the Lady Vikes drew 10 walks.