If slow-pitch softball is supposed to be an offensive-oriented game, Warren Central didn’t get the memo.

The Lady Vikes used a couple of big defensive plays and a strong pitching performance to sweep a first-round Class 5A-6A playoff series from South Panola, 6-5 and 3-0 Wednesday at Lucy Young Field.

Right fielder Ashley Coley threw out the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh inning to preserve the victory in Game 1, then Megan Stewart held South Panola to one hit in Game 2.

WC (18-6) advanced to the second round, where it will face either New Hope or Madison Central in a best-of-three series on Saturday.

New Hope and Madison Central will play their first-round series today. If New Hope wins, Warren Central will host the second round series. If Madison Central wins, the Lady Vikes will go on the road.

WC coach Dana McGivney was ecstatic just to advance.

“It’s big. Real big. Just as a confidence and morale-booster, knowing that we’re capable of it but just having to get past that mental block. So they were both good wins today,” McGivney said.

Warren Central jumped on South Panola for five runs in the top of the first inning in Game 1, but had to sweat out a late-inning  meltdown to win.

Sarah Kate Smith hit a three-run home run over the right center field fence during the big first inning, and singled in another run in the third to make it 6-0.

Warren Central, though, committed six errors in the game and Stewart walked four batters in the sixth and seventh innings -— three of whom scored.

South Panola scored twice in the sixth inning, then three more times in the seventh to put the tying run on base. MacKenzie Crutcher’s two-run double cut the Lady Tigers’ deficit to 6-5.

“We were killing the ball, and then we just kind of sat on it. We had a few walks and made a few bad plays, and they came back in the game,” McGivney said. “Just softball.”

After stumbling through parts of the game, however, WC’s defense came up big. Smith threw a runner out at second base from the outfield, then Coley gunned down Crutcher at the plate for the final out of the game.

“Ashley stutter-stepped, so I thought she wasn’t going to throw it at first. Then (Crutcher) stutter-stepped, and it was crazy,” WC catcher Morgan Stewart said. “It wasn’t that close. My leg was in front of the plate, and there was no way she was going under my leg.”

The momentum from the game-ending play seemed to carry over for both sides into Game 2.

Megan Stewart delivered an RBI double in the top of the first inning to stake the Lady Vikes to a 2-0 lead, and Darby Gain added another RBI double in the fifth to make it 3-0.

Megan Stewart and her defense did the rest, allowing just a second-inning single to Amber Helmes. She walked three batters, but none of them got past second base.

“As long as we can cut down on our walks and our errors, we tend to complete games even if we’re not scoring every inning,” McGivney said.

At the plate, Megan Stewart finished the game 3-for-3. She had five hits in the series.

Brooke Patterson was 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored in Game 1, while Gain finished the series with three RBIs and a run scored.

“Before the game was over, they were asking if I was happy. I said, ‘Not yet,’” McGivney said with a smile. “I didn’t want to get excited too quick. You just want your kids to play through, and I’m happy for them, just because they worked so hard and deserve it. They realized they do deserve to win.”