The road to Ridgeland’s Freedom Ridge Park and the Class 1A softball championship starts here.

St. Aloysius (13-6), which finished second in Division 7-1A, will battle visiting Ethel today in a first-round playoff doubleheader.

A possible rubber match will be played Tuesday at Ethel.

If you go

St. Al vs. Ethel

Class 1A playoffs

Today, 1 and 3 p.m.

According to St. Al coach Gene Rogillio, Ethel is in a down year, but he and the Lady Flashes are definitely not overlooking the third seed from Division 5-1A.

“We’re taking nobody lightly at this time of year,” Rogillio said. “They’re not the ballclub they were two years ago, but the best team doesn’t always win.”

The Lady Flashes are coming off a disappointing 2-1 loss to Division 7-1A champion Stringer on Wednesday, but Rogillio feels good about his club. The Lady Flashes got some well-earned rest after a torturous seven-game stretch crammed into six days that may have played a role against Stringer, which was playing its first game of the week Wednesday.

 “I think, going in, we’ve got a good attitude,” Rogillio said. “I thought Sarah (Franco) pitched a better ball game than the Stringer girl (Aaron Herrington). I can’t say that fatigue didn’t play a factor.”

Rogillio feels the Lady Red Devils may have even done St. Al a backhanded favor by winning the division title. On paper at least, St. Al will have a much easier road to Ridgeland than Stringer, which faces a likely matchup in the second round with defending state champion East Webster.

With a series win over Ethel, the Lady Flashes would likely play Bogue Chitto, which defeated St. Al 2-1 in a meeting earlier this season.

The playoff format got tweaked in the offseason. Last year, only the top two teams from each division went to the postseason, with the top seed hosting a doubleheader. This season, the top four from every division advance and the top two seeds host doubleheaders. Another change is that the seedings are maintained throughout the bracket rather than being shuffled with every new round.

That means St. Al will have to hit the road for the rest of the playoffs.

“I think it’s fair,” Rogillio said. “I think it’s the right thing to do to have the district champions host doubleheaders. They’ve earned it.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com