Warren Central’s shaky defense showed signs of improvement Thursday. It didn’t matter, though, once Lawrence County’s hitters started sending the ball over it.

WC Invitational

Saturday

At Warren Central

• Warren Central vs.

Yazoo City, 8:30 a.m.

• Hazlehurst vs.

Vicksburg, 9:45 a.m.

• Cathedral vs.

Yazoo City, 11 a.m.

• St. Aloysius vs.

Hazlehurst, 12:15 p.m.

• Warren Central vs.

Cathedral, 1:30 p.m.

• Vicksburg vs.

St. Aloysius, 2:45 p.m.

• Title game, 4:15 p.m.

The Lady Cougars had seven extra-base hits — five of them from their Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters — and scored eight runs in the last two innings to beat WC 12-3.

Daphne Armstrong went 4-for-4 with a double, triple, three RBIs and four runs scored for Lawrence County.

Warren Central (1-3) committed five errors to bring its season total to 25 in just four games. Only one of the miscues was a fielding error, though. The other four were throws that skipped or sailed past fielders on plays at third and home. The Lady Vikes also turned a double play, and Krista Cortezie made a nice diving catch in center field to take a hit away. Lawrence County’s bats were more of a factor in the game than the errors this time.

“We stayed with them the first four, 4 1/2 innings, and then their bats came alive,” WC coach Lucy Young said. “Our defense wasn’t bad. The hits they had were all shots to the gap. I didn’t feel like we gave up a lot of unearned runs. That’s an indication we’re making teams earn what they get.”

WC took a 3-1 lead on back-to-back triples by Hannah Krapac and Kylie Wells in the bottom of the second. Lawrence County (4-1) regained the lead by scoring three times in the fourth, then blew it open in the sixth and seventh. The Lady Cougars scored four runs in each inning by smashing four doubles and a triple.

WC only had two hits after leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the third.

WC will get a couple of chances to work on its game when it hosts the Lady Vikes Invitational on Saturday. Six teams, including WC, St. Aloysius and Vicksburg, will play two games apiece.

Young said the tournament is a chance for all the teams to work out the kinks before the start of division play.

“That’s what everybody that comes to this tournament wants. This early in the season, everybody wants games and see what changes need to be made, see their strengths and weaknesses. This tournament is a great opportunity to do that,” Young said.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com