JONESVILLE, La. &045; There isn’t much sadness in Block senior Glynda Butts as she toes the mound today in what could be her final game of her high school career.

She may be more excited than anything.

Butts is the lone senior on the Lady Bears’ roster this spring and is nearing the end of a five-year pitching career today when her club visits St. John of Plaquemine in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs. As young as the Lady Bears are this year and as far as they’ve gotten, this group could do some good things in the future.

&uot;In the future, we’re definitely going to be a good team,&uot; said Butts, who is joined by Jamie Ross as the only players not in 10th grade or below. &uot;We’re going to be competing with the big dogs. We’ve got a lot of talent, and they’re going to be good. I’m excited, and I can’t wait to come back and watch them play.&uot;

That’s what is making this game so special to a team that lost five senior starters from a year ago and the incumbent shortstop due to grades. The Lady Bears struggled for most of the regular season with their youth but kept working hard before breezing through District 4-1A to get the playoff spot.

Then after Monday’s win over Northwood, the Lady Bears find themselves exactly where last year’s team with all that experience ended their season &045; in the second round of the playoffs.

&uot;We’re very pleased, and I’m very pleased to be in the regional game,&uot; Block head coach Kerry Kirby said. &uot;You know our situation with eighth-, ninth- and 10th-graders. We played a good ball game against Northwood. We’re improving every day. We only had a couple of errors and had eight hits.&uot;

Part of the adjustment has been for Butts, a steady force on the mound each of the last three seasons for the Lady Bears but in her first season without older sister Shonda at catcher. The hard-throwing Butts has done well lately with Jamie Ross behind the plate and has finished her senior season strong.

She allowed three hits in the win over Northwood while striking out six.

&uot;I’ve been hitting my spots, and she’s done a great job catching,&uot; Butts said. &uot;It’s been different. At first it was hard, I have to admit, not seeing my sister back there. But things got better through the season. Now we’re at the top of our game.&uot;

Butts will get the call today against a tough St. John team that lost in the state championship last year and disposed of Cotton Valley 17-2 in the first round Tuesday.

&uot;Glynda has been pitching real well,&uot; Kirby said. &uot;She’s just Glynda. She’s been with us so long. I don’t know what we’ll do without her, but we’ll make it some way. I’ve had her five years, and she started pitching four of those five years. She pitched during her eighth-grade year.&uot;

St. John enters the second round as the runner-up out of District 7 behind champion Ascension Catholic. The winner of today’s contest gets a berth at the state tournament in Sulphur next week to face the winner of the Cedar Creek-St. Edmund game.

St. Edmund knocked Block out of the playoffs last season.

&uot;They’ve got a good pitcher that pitches a drop ball, a good shortstop and have got some good hitters throughout the lineup,&uot; Kirby said. &uot;That’s what I know about them. We’ve been practicing hitting low balls and working on the machine. Hopefully we can make them play some ball.&uot;

That’s what the Lady Bears did last week in what may have been their best game of the year. Butts and Ashley Kirby led the way at the plate as the Lady Bears jumped on Northwood in a hurry.

&uot;We’re excited to get this far,&uot; Butts said. &uot;A lot of people didn’t expect us to come as far as we have. The last game was our peak game, and it was a great time to have the best game we ever had. If we can do just as well, I think we can definitely win.&uot;

Northeast at Vidalia

VIDALIA, La. &045; The Lady Vikings are in the same position as Block by needing a win to get to the state tournament, and they’ll go at it at 5 p.m. today against Northeast at home.

And while the Lady Vikings turned it up a notch early in Tuesday’s 8-2 win over Farmerville, today’s contest may require another notch higher.

&uot;I just don’t feel like we played our best game (Tuesday),&uot; Vidalia head coach Gary Paul Parnham said. &uot;I felt like we came out a little nervous the first two innings. We had a little mental lapse there. (Farmerville) put the ball in play, and they surprised me by doing that. I think we kind of laid back a little bit. It looked to me like we lost some aggressiveness there after the inning we jumped on them. I’d like to see us stay aggressive.&uot;

Northeast, the District 8 champ, opened the playoffs with an 8-0 win over wild card Buras. The winner will face the Lakeside-Kinder winner April 29 in Sulphur.