NATCHEZ — The Trinity Episcopal Day School softball team survived a late-game scare against Tensas Academy at the Concordia Recreational District 3 complex Monday night.

The Lady Saints had a comfortable 8-1 lead going into the seventh inning before Tensas scored five runs to inch the game within two.

Trinity was able to pull out the win when relief pitcher Marty Lewis came in for starter Kailey Hutchins came into the game and struck out Addison Capdepon to end the game.

Trinity head coach Miranda Doughty said she was proud of her team’s defense.

“We came out strong,” Doughty said. “The score will not reflect that. Kailey pitched well for six innings, and Marty filled in for her. They played the best defense they’ve played in a long time.”

Trinity jumped to an early 3-0 lead, with Hannah Fitt doubling in Hutchins for the team’s first run. Mallory Lancaster followed up with a double to bring home Tali Beard and Fitt.

Tensas head coach Jay James said he felt like the first inning was a momentum changer for his team and that a questionable call changed the course of the game.

Trinity baserunner Kayla Gilmore collided with a Tensas player trying to catch a ground ball, but no call was made.

“Momentum was a big thing for me,” James said. “The no interference call was bad. We would’ve got out of the inning down 1-0 instead of 3-0.”

The Lady Saints extended their lead in the bottom of the second when Gabby Knight scored off of a fielder’s choice.

In the bottom of the third, Gilmore also scored a fielder’s choice to out Trinity up 5-0.

Tensas was unable to score any runs through the first five innings.

“We were batting flat starting out,” James said. “We were impatient, and we couldn’t wait on the pitches. When we did hit, we hit it right to the defender.”

Trinity didn’t see many hits in the fourth and fifth inning as well, but Beard scored Trinity’s sixth run by stealing consecutive bases before sliding home on a wild pitch.

“Our hitting wasn’t as well as it should’ve been,” Doughty said. “They had to adjust to slower pitching.”

Neither team scored in the fifth inning, but both teams put numbers on the scoreboard in the sixth inning.

Tensas scored its first run when Lauren Matthews came home on a fielder’s choice to bring the score to 6-1.

But Trinity responded with two runs of its own when Knight slid home on a sacrifice bunt, followed by Beard scoring on a passed ball, giving the Lady Saints an 8-1 lead.

Tensas refused to go away as they generated five runs in the final inning.

Matthews’ single powered the late-game rally with the bases loaded to bring in McKayla Bown and Ashlynn Mize.

Now down 8-3, Tensas gained momentum as Hannah James scored on an infield three-run home run to bring home Sarah Head and Matthews.

James said he was happy with his team’s comeback performance — he just wished it happened sooner.

“We came back, and we got some runs and got it going a little bit,” James said. “I wasn’t displeased totally with our performance, but I hate we came out flat and spotted them so many runs.”

Hutchins got the win for Trinity with three strikeouts.

Doughty said she feels Trinity has gained confidence over the weekend, and it showed against Tensas.

“I think they finally got it in their head that they’re good,” she said. “They got over their confidence issues.”

Trinity returns to the field at 6 p.m. today against Porters Chapel Academy in a non-district matchup.