A week of preparation has brought back some energy to the Warren Central Lady Vikes softball team.

Today, the Lady Vikes (14-10) head north to battle DeSoto Central in a first-round, Class 6A playoff series.

Game 1 of the best-of-three series is set for today at 3 p.m. The series shifts back to Warren Central for Game 2 at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lucy Young Field and a third game, if necessary, will follow at 3.

In Vicksburg, both St. Aloysius and Vicksburg High will be in action today at Bazinsky Park. The Lady Flashes (11-11) will host Sebastopol (18-4) in a Game 1 of a Class 1A series at 6 p.m. Vicksburg (3-15) takes on Southaven (17-7) at 4 p.m. in Game 1 of 6A series. Both series will resume on the road on Saturday.

For WC coach Dana McGivney, the Lady Vikes received a tough draw for a division champ. DeSoto Central (20-3-2) has been ranked in the top five in the state all season. The Lady Jaguars were upset by Southaven in their final regular-season matchup and lost the division title on run differential.

“DeSoto had a lot to do with why they have to play us in the first round. That’s why I think if we can get hot with our bats and avoid having that one bad defensive inning, we can be competitive,” McGivney said.

DeSoto comes in with four girls hitting over .350 this season. Kaitlin Moore leads the way at .506 with 17 extra base hits and 31 RBIs. Libby Goranson (.471, 18 RBIs), Casey Baddley (.421, 17 RBIs) and Natalie Smock (.354, 16 RBIs) round out the Lady Jaguars’ potent lineup.

Baddley is also the team’s ace pitcher with an 11-1 record and an 0.53 ERA, with 74 strikeouts in 79 innings.

Warren Central has just two players batting over .300 and that’s sophomores Sissy Hearn and Mallory Reynolds. Hearn leads the team, hitting .308 with 14 extra base hits and 26 RBIs.

Reynolds has hit .306 with 15 RBIs and center fielder Sydnei Smith is next at .262.

“The best thing about this week is the girls are excited about the playoffs and that’s what we’ve needed,” McGivney said.

Pitcher Chelsea Worley (9-8, 5.65 ERA) will likely start Game 1 and Reynolds (5-2, 3.77 ERA) will probably start Game 2, when the series comes back to WC.

Unlike WC, St. Aloysius is facing a familiar foe in Sebastopol. The two schools were division rivals last year and the Lady Flashes pulled out a pair of close wins. This season’s top hitter, junior Haley Heggins, was a big reason why after hitting an out of the park, game-winning home run. She will be moving to the outfield starting tonight. Vicksburg has won just three games, but two of them were the right ones to win and the Missy Gators are in the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

 Southaven is led by Lacie Patterson (.385, nine extra base hits) and Kim Adams (.333). The two girls are also the Lady Charger’s top two pitchers.

Vicksburg will counter with pitcher Faith Thomas, who also leads the team in hitting with a .290 average. First baseman Lea Davies is at .263 and leads the club in RBIs while catcher Sydney Bufkin and shortstop Blake DeRossette are both hitting .244.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com