NATCHEZ — The pace was slow — so slow Trinity Episcopal’s Kris Genous was passing time by picking up handfuls of dirt and rubbing them into his almost spotless uniform.

Between the puffs of dust floating into the night sky, Genous turned to his teammates in the infield, cracked a few smiles and wiped the dirt from his hands.

After all, he had a game to play.

In fact, as the Saints dropped two games to Adams County Christian School last Friday in a combined five innings of play, all of Trinity’s players were smiling. Because, what have they got to lose?

“We are just a bunch of kids out there who have mostly never played baseball before,” Trinity coach Mo Rodriguez said. “We just want to play a season.”

Though the rest of this season’s pace might be just as slow as the Saints’ first showing on the field, Rodriguez said his team is insistent on making the most of the opportunity.

“We have been nicknaming our team the Bad News Saints,” he said. “We don’t have a baseball field. We just do what we can.”

Throughout the last few weeks of practice, Rodriguez has had to battle with a host of emotions. At one point, he wasn’t even sure if he’d have enough players, especially after news came in January that Trinity would close its doors after graduating its final senior class in May.

As of now, the Saints have exactly nine players.

“This is the craziest baseball season I have ever coached, between everything going on with the school,” Rodriguez said. “But, I came here with the main purpose to help the baseball program. (The news) was devastating because I had a lot of plans to bring more of a baseball background back to Trinity.

“Those plans after learning that the school was closing just went away.”

The Saints are slated to play just six regular season games — twice against each district opponent in Wilkinson County Christian Academy, Rebul Academy and Discovery Christian School.

The main goal, Rodriguez said, is to win at least one. Trinity’s baseball team hasn’t won a game in four years.

“Hopefully we win one,” he said. “We want to go out doing something good.”

Without the experience, Rodriguez said the task will be a difficult one, yet not impossible. The Saints — in which most athletes at the school play multiple sports — just ended their basketball season as the MAIS Class A South State Champions.

“We have a lot of talented kids,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of them just don’t have a baseball background, but people might be surprised with what we can do.”

Rodriguez added his players not only have athletic goals, but personal ones, too.

“We have absolutely nothing to lose,” he said. “We are just going to go out there and have some fun. The kids are totally embracing it.

“I just want to do something good for them. I’ve been telling them to just give me six games and see what can happen. You never know.”

The Saints will take the diamond for their first official game as the home team at 5:30 p.m. March 20 against WCCA to be played at the ACCS baseball field.