MEADVILLE — Franklin County’s youth and inexperience came to the forefront in the early innings of its home opener Tuesday night against Lawrence County.

The Lady Cougars scored four runs before the Lady Bulldogs went to bat in the first inning and led 6-1 after three innings of play before holding on for a 6-5 victory and their first win of the season.

“We were just flat tonight. We struggled putting together back-to-back hits,” Franklin County head coach Dana Smith said. “They came out smoking the ball right off the bat. We stayed flat until the sixth inning and we couldn’t do enough to get back.”

Even though Franklin County’s defense played well in the top of the first inning, Lawrence County (1-2) kept putting the ball in play and that culminated in the Lady Cougars jumping out to the quick 4-0 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs scored one run in the bottom of the second inning, but the Lady Cougars responded by scoring twice in the top of the third.

“Defensively, we played fine. When they scored four runs in the first inning, we had just one error,” Smith said. “They just hit the ball where we weren’t.”

The Lady Bulldogs ended up committing four errors in the game to just two by the Lady Cougars.

However, Franklin County pitcher Mildred Starks kept Lawrence County off the scoreboard in the final four innings and that gave the Lady Bulldogs the opportunity to have an improbable comeback win.

Unfortunately the late-game rally fell a little bit short. And it didn’t help that Franklin County didn’t score again until the bottom of the sixth inning. The Lady Bulldogs scored three times to make it a 6-4 ball game. They added another run in the bottom of the seventh, but that would be all.

“It’s early in the season. We have some new girls just starting out in varsity,” Smith said. “We only have three returning starters. We’re starting seven new players. A lot of new faces out there.”

Both teams ended up with 12 hits in the game. Lawrence County was led by Tianna Bampese, who went 3-for-3 with a double, and Jullian Johnson, who had a home run. S. Middleton led Franklin County at the plate by going 4-for-4 while Lay Lay Griffin was 3-for-3.

Franklin County (2-1) hosts Brookhaven on Thursday with the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity game at 7 p.m.

Centreville Academy 3,

Oak Forest 1

CENTREVILLE — Since being shut out by Silliman Institute last Thursday, the Centerville Academy Lady Tigers have been on a tear by winning seven of their last nine games.

And that included Centreville’s win over the Oak Forest Academy Lady Yellow Jackets Tuesday night in an MAIS District 6-AA game. The same Oak Forest team that eliminated Centreville from the Amite School Center Tournament last Saturday night.

And it wasn’t the prettiest of wins for Centreville as the Lady Tigers committed three errors and winning pitcher Arianna Bigner had more walks and as many hit batters as she had strikeouts. But they showed a lot of heart and determination in pulling off the come-from-behind win.

“The defense stepped up. We got off to a little shaky start with a couple of errors. But they scored just one run. Other than that, the defense was outstanding,” Centreville head coach Mark Mann said. “Arianna wasn’t overpowering, but she was hitting her spots.”

Oak Forest took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and kept that lead until the bottom of the fourth inning. That’s when Centreville took the lead for good with a pair of runs. Laramie Greer added a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to complete the comeback.

“We hit the ball well. It’s the same story it’s been all year. We hit some hard outs. Line drives right at them. Oak Forest made some good plays on defense, also” Mann said. “By not making any errors, it shows how good they are. We hit some gap balls. Tonight we found some holes. Put a little rally together and came out on top.”

Bigner went all six innings for Centreville as she allowed one run on five hits with one strikeout, two walks and one hit batsman.

“To not have your best stuff and still only give up one run and five hits against a good Oak Forest team, it just says a lot about her grit and effort,” Mann said. “It was a big district win.”

Centreville (14-6, 2-1) doesn’t play again until Saturday at the Silliman Tournament.

Tensas Academy 8, WCCA 2

WOODVILLE — Even though Tensas Academy had the same number of hits as Wilkinson County Christian Academy, the Lady Chiefs took advantage of several miscues to defeat the Lady Rams Tuesday afternoon.

Both teams ended up with five hits, but WCCA helped out Tensas Academy with six walks issued by pitcher Hannah Lanehart and four errors from its defense. The Lady Chiefs themselves had just one error in the six-inning MAIS District 6-A game.

“Tensas played a really good defensive game. We hit it right at them and they made the routine plays,” Lady Rams head coach Brandi McDaniel said.

The Lady Chiefs scored at least one run in each of the final five innings and led 4-0 before the Lady Rams scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Tensas Academy tacked on three runs in the top of the fifth and one in the top of the sixth for a commanding 8-1 lead. WCCA scored its final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.

“We walked too many batters. They had zero earned runs,” McDaniel said.

Even though Lanehart struggled on the mound with just three strikeouts in a complete-game effort, she was the lone bright spot at the plate for the Lady Rams as she went 3-for-3 with a double.

WCCA (1-6, 0-1) plays at Central Private Thursday at 4 p.m.