Warren Central’s Kristen Ashley scoots back into first base after a pickoff attempt from catcher Keri Harper to first baseman Alex Hawkins, right, during the Lady Vikes’ 6-1 loss to Clinton on Thursday night. (Jenny SevcikThe Vicksburg Post)

[3/26/04]Clinton’s three outfielders spent Thursday night stretching their legs, pacing back and forth and admiring a star-filled clear sky.

They had nothing better to do.

Warren Central did not hit one ball out of the infield, and had only a Lauren Anderson infield single in a 6-1 loss to the Lady Arrows.

“The last game we played against Grenada, they hit one ball into the outfield and we weren’t ready for it. It skipped all the way to the fence for a triple,” Clinton coach Mike Chambless said. “The pitching the last few games has been great.”

Patti Collins, the Lady Arrows’ No. 3 pitcher, allowed a bloop single to Anderson in the fourth inning, but did not face any trouble the rest of the game. She struck out eight and walked five.

“Their pitcher was hitting the outside corner with a great pitch. She was on with that pitch,” WC coach Lucy Young said. “It was a hard ball, and she had us leaning over the plate. We moved up, we moved back, but our timing was off.”

Anderson took the loss, but struck out 12. Only two of Clinton’s six runs were earned, thanks to five Lady Vikes’ errors.

“The errors are correctable,” Young said. “We need to do a better job in the field.”

The Lady Vikes committed many more mental errors.

In the third inning, Clinton’s Brandy Runnels led off with a triple. Runnels then got hung up in a rundown between third and home when Carra Keith attempted to bunt Runnels in.

Runnels, though, escaped back to third and scored soon after when Nicole Chisolm reached on the first WC error. The Lady Arrows scored three runs in the third, and added single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In each of Clinton’s scoring innings, WC committed at least one error.

Offensively, when WC did hit the ball, Clinton’s infielders had no problems. The Lady Vikes hit 11 groundouts, many of them dribblers.

“The way we were cutting the ball when we did hit it took all the power away,” Young said. “The hardest hit ball we had all night was the one Cookie (Johnson) hit at the end, and it went straight to the shortstop.”

Warren Central scored its only run in the fourth inning when Tiffany Fuller scored on a Keisha Blue groundout.

Salem 5, St. Aloysius 4

Salem scored three runs in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday night to send the Lady Flashes home with a loss.

Sarah Franco and Mary Myers Franco led St. Al (7-4) with two hits apiece, and Sarah Kerut hit an RBI single.

Laura Beth Lyons pitched all 10 innings. She struck out 15 and scattered six hits.

The Lady Flashes, who will play in Saturday’s Clinton Tournament, left 11 runners on base and committed five errors.