NATCHEZ — After a sluggish few innings, Trinity Episcopal pitcher Alyx Atkinson was on her game and Riverfield Academy was unable to answer.

Atkinson drove in three runs in her first two at-bats, both during a 10-run rally in the bottom of the first inning as the Lady Saints rallied to defeat the Lady Raiders 21-12 Tuesday afternoon at the Natchez-Adams Girls Softball Complex.

“The first inning was a little shaky, but we came together as a team. I couldn’t ask more from pitching from Alyx,” Lady Saints head coach Sue Geter said. “She’s leading this team in the right direction.”

Riverfield (2-1) had one on and two outs against Atkinson before Rachel Mosley singled in Sarah Perry and scored on a double by Sara Senn. Lady Raiders starting pitcher Shelby Templeton and Senn scored on a double by Tori Cantu, who injured herself rounding first and going to second.

“My infield was weakened by our third baseman (Cantu) being injured,” Riverfield head coach Joe Senn said.

Trinity Episcopal took the lead for good in the bottom of the first. Mary Catherine Iles, who went 4-for-5 with a walk in the game, led off with a triple and scored when Olivia Walden, who went 4-for-6, reached on an error. After Rachel Bunch reached on another error, Atkinson tripled in Walden and Bunch to make it a 5-3 game.

Consecutive RBI singles by Brandy Hall and Madeline Cross made it a 6-5 game and Iles brought in two runs with a single to give the Lady Saints an 8-5 lead. Run-scoring singles by Walden and Atkinson upped the lead to 10-5 before Templeton finally got out of the inning.

“We’ve been working on our batting and it showed tonight,” Geter said. “If we can keep that momentum going, I don’t think we can be stopped.”

Riverfield made it a 10-9 game in the top of the second when Hannah Greer brought in two runs with a single, Mosley tripled in a run and then scored on an overthrow.

“It takes her about an inning to shake it off,” Geter said about Atkinson. “I’m proud to have her on my team and I’m proud to call her a Lady Saint.”

Trinity outscored the Lady Raiders 8-1 in the final three and a half innings to put the game out of reach. Bunch tripled in two runs.

“We had too many errors in the infield and outfield,” Senn said. “But I was pleased with them.”