NATCHEZ — The Cathedral softball team could be described as a lion waiting to pounce.

Sometimes the lion pounces right away, and other times it lies in hiding, waiting for the perfect opportunity. But Friday afternoon, when given two opportunities, the lion pounced both times, whether at first or later on.

Cathedral swept a doubleheader against Weir, winning game one 13-0 and game two 12-1 in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs. Both times, Cathedral rode the momentum of a big inning, in which the Lady Wave smashed Weir pitching and aggressively attacked the basepaths.

“That’s how this team is,” Cathedral coach Gary Blackwell said. “They’ll have us down and then, boom, we’ll break loose. Our girls never quit.”

Game one saw a no-hitter for Cathedral pitcher Mollie Devening. Devening struck out five across four innings of work, while allowing just one baserunner on a hit batsman. Cathedral, meanwhile, scored eight runs in the first inning, giving Devening a nice cushion for the rest of the game.

“Mollie pitched a very good game for us,” Blackwell said. “She did well holding them down. We got those eight runs in the first inning, and then held us the next two innings. But, as our girls have done all year, they busted back out when they needed to and finished the job in the fourth.”

The first inning was highlighted by a three-run blast by the Lady Wave’s Beth Fortenberry.

“I was pleased with Beth and her hitting this first game,” Blackwell said. “She came through big with that home run.”

After being shut down in the second and third inning, the Lady Wave added five more runs in the bottom of the fourth. The game was called due to the 12-run mercy rule after four innings.

Ginny Daggett got the start in game two for the Lady Wave, giving up just one run and striking out 11 batters. She also had a two-run home run in the third inning that she sent flying over the right field wall.

After being shut down for the first two innings, the Lady Wave took a more patient approach to the plate in the third. This resulted in Cathedral batting around and 11 runs scoring.

“I think their pitcher probably got a little tired at that point,” Blackwell said. “I told them before that inning to be a little more patient, because it was coming in slower.”

Cathedral added another run in the bottom of the fourth, then Daggett got the last three outs in the fifth before the game was called due to the 10-run mercy rule after five.

With the two wins, Cathedral (19-8) moves on to the second round of the playoffs, where it will likely face Bogue Chitto.

“We’ll play them here next Thursday at 5 p.m., then go over there Friday at 5 p.m.,” Blackwell said.

“It’s going to be a tough game. It’ll be the game of the year for us. Their coach was here watching us, so he knows it’ll be tough too. They always have a pretty good team, but we’re very capable of winning.”