NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School rising senior and all-metro softball player of the year McKenzie Milligan went up against some stiff competition in the MAC all-star fast pitch softball game June 8.

The shortstop graduated from Cathedral in May after leading her team to the South State playoffs, and she made her way to Ellisville to compete with and against some of the top elite girls in Mississippi.

“I was nervous because I didn’t know anybody, but played against a lot of other players that would be there,” Milligan said. “I didn’t know if we would get along.”

Milligan said she arrived to Ellisville Friday and the jitters slowly started to fade away.

“The first day was a lot of down time and I got to meet every one on my team,” she said. “We all became friends very fast.”

The south all-star team practiced twice before Sunday’s contest, and Milligan said though there was a lot of talent on the field, it was hard to gain chemistry quickly.

“But we started to pull things together,” Milligan said.

Milligan played in both games Sunday, and went 1-for-3 in each game with a stolen base. Milligan recorded 20 stolen bases out of 22 attempts in the 2014 season, but this time was different.

“I could sort of see (Cathedral head softball coach Gary) Blackwell signaling me to steal base,” Milligan said. “I knew the catcher would have a great arm, I was pretty nervous.”

The south all-star team lost both games 2-0 and 6-2 to the north, but Milligan said it was still one of the best experiences of her life so far.

“It was a great experience and I’m honored I had the chance to play in it,” she said.

Milligan said she does not plan to play summer league softball and will return to Cathedral next year.