Despite an early two-run deficit, Cathedral High School utilized the bottom of its lineup to chip away, defeating Centreville Academy Monday night, 7-4.

The win marked Lady Green Wave (1-0) coach Craig Beesley’s first victory as softball coach.

“It’s always good when you win, I’m happy for the girls,” Beesley said. “I’ve been doing (coaching) 25 years, and it’s big for me to win the first one. But, for these girls to work as hard as they have this past month at practice and to play as good as they did tonight, it’s awesome.”

Cathedral’s nine-hole hitter Mia Gamberi punched a two-run single in the fifth inning, driving in Adrianna Rojo and Christin Smith to secure the win.

Gamberi ended 2-for-3 with two runs scored along with her two RBIs. Cathedral’s eighth-hole hitter Emma Whittington also added two hits and an RBI with two runs scored.

The Lady Tigers (1-4) came out in the first inning with hits from Savannah Hailey, Emilea Roberts and Brianna Sterling for an initial 2-0 lead, yet recorded just one more hit for the remainder of the night.

“We didn’t hit as well as we have been,” Centreville coach Robert Bordelon said. “We got a lead and we made an error. Once we had that, it broke us down mentally and we couldn’t recoup.”

Centreville ended with five errors, something Bordelon said is a must fix.

“We just don’t have the mental strength to push through things like that,” he said. “That’s been a struggle for us for a long time with this group.”

Beesley said while the Lady Green Wave were able to capitalize on its opponent’s mistakes, he would have liked to see a bit more power at the plate.

Though it finished with hits from five different players, Cathedral had an opportunity to add to its lead in the fourth with the bases loaded and no outs, but weren’t able to capitalize.

“We didn’t get any runs out of it, so we lost an opportunity there,” Beesley said. “I’m glad to see more than one person stepping up for us tonight, but I’m hoping we start swinging the bats better.”

The Lady Tigers, Bordelon said, must stayed focused going forward. They play next on Thursday at home against Bowling Green.

“It’s about how hard they want to work to obtain real goals,” he said. “I think once they decide they want to do this and give it all they got, it will start to click.”

With the first win out of the way, Beesley said he sees potential for the remainder of Cathedral’s season starting at 6:15 p.m. today as it travels to Brookhaven Academy.

“There are so many little things that we can work on to get better,” he said. “If they play hard, good things are going to happen. We are going to get better as the year goes on.”

 

CATHEDRAL 7, CENTREVILLE 4

CA 200 011 0 — 4 2 5

CHS 041 020 X — 7 9 2

WP — Emma Whittington (3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER)

LP — Karlyn Dalton (3 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 Ks)

HITTERS — CA: Madison Dawson (1-4, 1 R), Savannah Hailey (1-4, 1 R), Macie Miley (1 RBI), Karlyn Dalton (1 R), Lacy Darden (1 RBI). CHS: Anna Poole (1-3), Madeline Smith (2-4, 2 Rs), Fisher Iseminger (2-4, 1 RBI), Emma Whittington (2-3, 2 Rs, 1 RBIs), Mia Gamberi (2-3, 2 Rs, 2 RBIs), Christin Smith (2 Rs)

RECORDS — CA: 1-4. CHS: 1-0

UP NEXT — CA: Thursday home vs. Bowling Green. CHS: 6:15 p.m. today at Brookhaven Academy.