[4/7/04]NATCHEZ Vicksburg High earned its first playoff berth ever with a 13-3 win over Natchez High Tuesday.

Now the road gets really tough.

The Missy Gators will open the playoffs against fifth-ranked Pascagoula on Saturday in a doubleheader. If a third game is needed, the two teams would return to Vicksburg on Monday.

“This will be the first time in Vicksburg High softball history to make the playoffs,” VHS head coach Laquitta Smith said. “They had to beat us by nine runs in order to knock us out of it, and you never know. (The girls) are excited. We’ve had our ups and downs.”

The Lady Bulldogs couldn’t get anything going until the sixth inning, but by that time the score was 9-0.

Whitney Smith finished with eight strikeouts and just two walks to earn the win.

She held Natchez scoreless through five and allowed only three balls out of the infield. The Lady Bulldogs got three runs in the sixth.

The Missy Gators got one in the first and two in the second before taking advantage of some walks and errors in the fifth and sixth to break it open. They loaded the bases and scored when Jawanda Bingham was hit by a pitch and Kaci Flaherty walked.

Vivian Smith singled in a run for a 6-0 lead. In the sixth, Shannon Arnold scored on an error before two more runs came across for a 9-0 lead.