Cockerham, a freshman, struckout five and allowed five hits through six innings in an 11-1 win.

“I felt good,” Cockerham said. “I had a good attitude (in the circle),”

Vidalia trailed early after a leadoff triple and pass ball brought the first run home for Peabody. Cockerham struck out the last two batters in the inning, leaving a runner stranded on third.

A leadoff walk in the Lady Vikings’ half of the first inning was manufactured into a run with aggressive base running from Kelsi Cavazos. Cavazos got the jump on three passed balls to tie the game.

“You win ballgames by being aggressive,” Lady Vikings coach Forrest Foster said. “If you’re passive, you’re going to sit back and get beat. It showed today.”

Madison Johnston’s leadoff double sparked Vidalia’s go-ahead rally in the fourth inning. Vidalia took a 3-1 lead after four innings, while Cockerham continued to cruise, stranding a runner on second in the fifth and retiring the side in order in the sixth.

“Just about any time you get a leadoff hitter on, they’re going to score,” Foster said. “If you have a runner on with nobody out, you can make things happen. With one out or two outs, you have to be pretty tentative.”

Vidalia clinched the game on a seven-run sixth inning that forced a run-rule victory.

The Lady Vikings improved to 6-5 on the season. Foster and his squad are 2-1 in district.

Foster isn’t raving about his squad yet. The lady Vikings’ head coach said he expects he’ll see his team fully in sync, offensively and defensively, in the coming weeks.

“We are a work in progress. I said to start the season I thought it would be midseason before we hit our stride,” Foster said. “We’re getting close, we’re improving every day.”

Shelbie Vinet, Cockerham, Tatum Turner and Angel Kenney all had singles for the Lady Vikings. Johnston added an RBI triple in the sixth inning. Katelyn McCarver, Turner and Kenny each had one RBI for Vidalia.