NATCHEZ &8212; Only two more chances remain for Natchez High&8217;s fast-pitch softball team to get a win this season.

But the team isn&8217;t that bad, sophomore Cacey Champlin wants you to know.

Cathedral handed Natchez High a 15-5 defeat in five innings Monday to keep the Lady Bulldogs winless as the season winds down. Both teams are fielding fledgling programs this spring, and often times the outcomes have a similar result.

When there are struggles pitching or with defense, anything can happen.

&8220;We have a lot of potential on this team,&8221; said Champlin, a strong-armed shortstop who came in the fifth to pitch. &8220;If we stick with it, we&8217;ll go somewhere if everybody comes out next year and we get some more. That&8217;ll really help us. Everybody on this team, we all get along.&8221;

And just like on Monday, the 10-run difference didn&8217;t tell the whole story &8212; nor did it indicate Cathedral has come a ways farther than Natchez High. The Lady Wave had just five hits and took advantage of 14 walks and a hit batter.

Tryonna Green, Natchez High&8217;s regular pitcher, came out later in the fifth inning when the Lady Wave scored 10 runs to end the game. Champlin faced five batters, and the 15th run scored when the Lady Bulldogs got the second out of the inning when Mattie Smith&8217;s fly ball to center fell in.

Natchez High got a force out at second on the play just after Zoie Arnold scored to end the game.

&8220;She just got behind in the count and couldn&8217;t work her way out of it,&8221; Natchez High head coach Michelle English said of Green. &8220;She got herself in trouble. But she was the only one with any (pitching) experience coming into this year. We&8217;re working with Cacey and Shelby (Guice), but they have no experience. They&8217;ll be able to get there, but it&8217;s just going to take a little while.&8221;

All the Lady Wave needed was the five hits, including a shot from Anna Huffines that broke the game open in that fifth. The bases were loaded thanks to a hit batter and two walks, and an error on a ball hit by Smith in the infield allowed Mae Durkin and Zoie Arnold to score to break a 5-5 tie.

Lindsey Holliman scored on a fielder&8217;s choice to keep the bases loaded, and Huffines put a shot over the defense in right for an inside-the-park grand slam to score Smith, Betsy Daggett and Elizabeth Blackwell for a 12-5 lead.

&8220;Our hitting was off &8212; we should have been hitting this girl the whole game,&8221; Cathedral head coach Gary Blackwell said. &8220;It took to the fourth or fifth inning until we started hitting. Early in the season Anna was hitting real well, but she got in a slump. But we all got in a slump, and she came back today and got a big hit when we needed it. We were hitting a lot better the first of the year.&8221;

Fortunately for the Lady Wave, pitcher Brandi McGraw had better success throwing strikes and got some plays behind her to keep the Lady Bulldogs from scoring after the third inning.