VIDALIA, La. &045; There’s no district race, no crucial games to land that No. 1 spot and no drama late in the season when everyone else is having their share.

This is when the coaches at Vidalia really start to dig in and work.

It could be easy to become complacent and sleepy this time of the season when the Lady Vikings knew basically in the summer they were going to be District 4-2A champs since no one else fielded a team. So the schedule just had to be extra tough down the stretch with games that felt like district contests in order to get ready for the playoffs in two weeks.

The Lady Vikings handed a good Sterlington team a 16-1 defeat in four innings Friday. This was the same Lady Panther squad Vidalia had to go extra innings to beat earlier this season, and it could be the same team Vidalia may face in the opening round of the playoffs.

&uot;It’s kind of focused us on a five-game season,&uot; said second baseman Emily Raley, who doubled the final two runs to end the game. &uot;We have to win those five games to get to the state tournament (in Sulphur). As long as we’re swinging like we are, we’ll get to the state tournament.

&uot;I think we should look at this game and know we can do it. We have to be confident and know we can do it. We did it once, and we know we can do it again.&uot;

A win like this at the tail end of the season may be welcomed with open arms for Vidalia head coach Gary Paul Parnham and his staff. It’s been a season of inconsistencies at the plate with the occasional flare-up in the field, but everyone kept working to hopefully get things right at this point in the season.

The Lady Vikings finish the season next week with games at Block and LaSalle. They’ll face the No. 3 team out of District 3, he loser of the Sterlington-St. Frederick tie-breaker game Wednesday at Neville.

&uot;That was a surprise, I can tell you that,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;I told the kids we played at a playoff level today. Today, coming out like we did will help us with our confidence. You’ve got to be able to step up and play with intensity.

&uot;It is tough when you don’t have a district and don’t have anything to shoot for. It’s easy to get complacent, but we’re trying to keep on them. My assistants and I are trying to stay on them what our ultimate goal is.&uot;

The bats came around in a big way off two Sterlington pitchers, the second one being the one they faced at Sterlington in the extra-inning win. This time they pecked away at starter Caitlin Taylor &045; who was coming off a hip injury &045; for three innings before exploding on reliever Brook Bowen in the fourth to end the game.

The Lady Vikings (16-11-2) scored 10 runs in the fourth to end the game without the Lady Panthers registering an out.

&uot;My pitcher I started off the ball game is a freshman, and she’s only pitched a few innings this year,&uot; Sterlington head coach Boyd Cole said. &uot;But that had nothing to do with it. Vidalia hit the ball hard. Me and Gary have been friends for a while. We won our state championships three minutes apart. I’m disappointed in the way we played, but I’ve seen Vidalia play four times this year. I hope I don’t come here in two weeks.&uot;

The Lady Vikings could not have had an inning like the fourth against a team like Sterlington this season. While the Lady Panthers (10-15-2) had a couple of boots in the field, Vidalia kept putting it in play and finding the holes. Four straight batters hit singles to drive in a run before an error brought home Mary Katherine Golden and Rachel Roberts for a 13-1 lead.

Bridget Waller singled in Chelsie McElwee for her second single of the inning, and Raley’s double down the right-field line scored Chelsey Knapp and Waller to end the game.

&uot;We’ve definitely been working on hitting,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;We’ve worked on bunting and hitting, and we worked on seeing the ball better. Just like hitting is contagious, not hitting is contagious. The thing I’m proud of was making the adjustment from a faster pitcher to a slower pitcher. That’s all mental.&uot;

Christy Corley had a key hit in the first inning as the Lady Vikings jumped on Taylor from the start. Lauren Clayton and Raley each singled and scored on a Corley double to left center.

Corley later scored on a Golden groundout, and Jamiee Jordan scored on one of five Sterlington errors.

&uot;We didn’t get on just because they had errors,&uot; Raley said. &uot;We got base hits, and I was proud of that. I didn’t think we were going to lose, but I didn’t think we were going to do that great.&uot;