After going 2-2 in the Pineville baseball tournament over the weekend, the Vidalia High baseball team is now starting to gear up for their next tournament that begins this weekend.

The Vikings, who lost to Pineville in the championship game, are now 1-1 this season against the 5A school. During the tournament, coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir said he was pleased with the way his team played over the weekend.

“Defensively, it was the best we have played all season,” he said.

“We didn’t hit the ball sharp, but our guys did a good job of pitching.”

Hoffpauir said the Vikings still must cut down on mental errors they are making during the middle of games. Some of those mistakes have been costly, he said, but he thinks his team will improve the more they play.

“I knew because of the weather and our schedule that we would have to play ourselves into shape,” Hoffpauir said.

But before the Vikings host the Vidalia Classic baseball tournament, Vidaila will take on Rayville tonight at 5. Following the game the Vikings will have a short rest in the middle of the week before taking the field next weekend against eight other teams. Hoffpauir said the extended forecast looks good for this up coming weekend, and added he hopes it stays that way.

Rebels trying to fill holes

With six players graduating last year, the Adams County Christian School Rebel baseball team is working on filling spots in the lineup, but head coach Ron Rushing said he about has his defense set.

“Hopefully our pitching will come around, and we will be rolling,” he said.

Rushing said pitching has been a problem for the Rebels (1-4), and said scoring runners once they have gotten on base has also been a problem. But he thinks they will come around.

“They have a very strong work ethic. They are really getting after it in

practice, and they want it bad,” he said.

Rushing said experience will also help his young team improve, and the Rebels have seven more games to play before they enter into their district schedule.

“Experience will help. We have seven games until district, so we will get some time in there before then,” he said.

Cathedral off to strong start in district

Cathedral will take on its third district opponent of the season against St. Aloysius today at Chester Willis Field at 6 p.m.

Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said this has been an important series in both teams’ season since the Green Wave has won the district baseball title for the past three straight years, and the team to last win the title before cathedral was the Flashes.

Beesley said he is very pleased with his teams pitching.

“Right now pitching has been steady. Patrick McDonough has zero earned runs in 17 innings, with 32 strikeouts and two walks. We are confident when he is on the mound he will not walk many batters,” he said.

Beesley said his team is now working on situational hitting.

“We are hitting the ball, not as good as we hope to be, but we are getting better and better each day,” he said.

Beesley said his team currently has two district wins under their belt, but added that St. Aloysius has two district wins as well.

“We are going to come out and play good baseball, and make them earn everything they get,” Beesley said.