VIDALIA, La. &045; The softball diamond seems like a kooky place to seek perfection.

Lots of dirt, lots of sweat, lots of unkempt uniforms polluted from sliding into bags and diving for fly balls.

Yet when Vidalia’s Christy Corley steps into that chalked pitching circle, all she can think about is mowing down every hitter that has the gall to step into the batter’s box, impeding her chance at a perfect game.

For 2 1/3 innings Thursday, Corley was winning the battle against Crowville; however, she walked two in the third, and Corley’s concern quickly shifted from perfection to the Lady Vikings’ 1-0 lead.

&uot;That’s when you start going, ‘Oh my gosh. What do I need to do,’&uot; said Corley, who pitched her 24th game Thursday. &uot;You’ve just got to go get it. I know my defense is backing me up, and that gives you confidence.&uot;

During the next five pitches, Corley induced a fly out and a fielder’s choice to end the threat in Vidalia’s 9-1 victory.

The Lady Vikings (14-8-2, 2-0) have now won 14 of their last 18 games after starting 0-5, and, in the process, collected their second District 4-2A victory against Crowville in three days.

Vidalia and the Lady Bulldogs &045; the only two teams in the district &045; played Tuesday in Crowville, and play twice more next week. The Lady Vikings won 11-1 Tuesday.

&uot;It’s tough having two teams in the district, and it’s tough on Crowville, too,&uot; Vidalia head coach Gary Paul Parnham said. &uot;I don’t have to tell them a whole lot because this has always been a big rivalry. The only thing we can do is forget about these two games. We’ve gotta know Crowville is going to come back and fight us.&uot;

Class 2A’s defending state champs continued its assault on the neon yellow softball Thursday, pounding out 12 hits to go with the 16 the Lady Vikings collected at Crowville.

Corley helped her own cause at the plate with three hits in four appearances and a hat trick of RBIs. Third baseman Kelly O’Gwin went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI, as second baseman Emily Raley and left fielder Kelsey Leake each collected two hits. Raley also scored four runs.

&uot;We’ve been hitting well lately. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t hit,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;It has a lot to do with repetition, but I think it also has a lot to do with opening up district play and the girls knowing how important that is.&uot;

Vidalia posted consecutive three-run innings in the third and fourth by playing small ball.

Raley led off the third with an infield single against Lady Bulldog starter Mary Kate Killingsworth. Raley moved to second when Leake reached on an error that ate up Crowville second baseman Maggie Gilbert.

After Corley moved the runners up with a fielder’s choice, Ashley Prince laced a single over the second base bag to score both runs for a 3-0 cushion.

&uot;I told (my teammates) today before the game we needed to come at them just as hard because you knew they were going to come out harder after a loss like that (Tuesday),&uot; said Corley, who limited the Lady Bulldogs to four hits.

Prince scored later that inning when Jamie Jordan singled to center.

Jordan’s single prompted Crowville head coach Curt Curtis to bring in Gilbert, who threw Tuesday.

&uot;When we played Tuesday I started (Gilbert), so I wanted a change of pace for a different look and different speed (Thursday),&uot; he said. &uot;When they got (Killingsworth’s) timing down, I had to make a change. We get them two more times. Hopefully we can make the adjustments.&uot;

The Lady Bulldogs got one back in the top of the fourth after they strung together their first hits, a pair of singles, off Corley.

However, Vidalia responded with three more in the fourth to move ahead 7-1. Corley knocked in Raley for the second time and, consequently, her second RBI. Leake scored off a wild pitch, and Danielle Bryan &045; running for Corley &045; came plateward off O’Gwin’s first single.

&uot;We didn’t have as great a hitting day like we did Tuesday, but we still hit it fairly well,&uot; Parnham said. &uot;(Curtis) threw a slower pitcher, and it took us an inning to adjust to it.&uot;

Crowville loaded the bases in the fifth, but it failed to get anything across against Corley, who finished with two strikeouts and five walks.

&uot;We couldn’t make solid contact against her,&uot; Curtis said. &uot;She was moving her pitches around and keeping us off-balanced with her curve. She threw a rise ball too.&uot;