Picayune’s Lady Maroon Tide softball team finished off a series of two games in two days with a 6-3 win over the St. Patrick Lady Fighting Irish on Feb. 28.

The win came one day after a 7-1 defeat to the West Harrison Hurricanes, giving Picayune its first victory of the season.

Head Coach Kristi Mitchell said the bats have come alive in the last two games.

During Friday’s matchup, Picayune was able to string hits together and that helped lead to the win over St. Patrick.

However, Mitchell said there are some early season defensive issues that will need to be cleaned up as time goes on.

“Defensively we’re committing way too many errors, so we’re going to have to clean that up. These good teams are taking advantage of the errors we’re committing and capitalizing on those,” Mitchell said.

Beginning the season 0-2 wasn’t the start the Lady Maroon Tide wanted, but getting the first win of the season might be the spark the team needs heading into their matchup with the Poplarville Lady Hornets on March 2.

The players know it’s early in the season and there’s time to get things cleaned up before district play.

The senior leadership on the team helps keep the athletes even keeled.

“I think I’ve got a team that handles itself really well. They understand what they’ve done wrong and what they need to correct,” Mitchell said.

As the team prepares for its upcoming games, the emphasis in practice will be on several aspects of the game, such as base running and hitting.

Picayune has the talent to be a dominant offensive team, there are just a few corrections to be made in order for the team to reach its potential at the plate.

“We have to be able to score more runs than we have if we want to win ball games. We’re leaving way too many people on base, we have to be able to hit with runners in scoring position,” Mitchell said.

The team has committed 12 errors on the season and Mitchell will be looking for the team to improve its glove work as time goes on.

Errors can galvanize an opponent and gives opposing teams another chance to get a run.

Cutting down on those mistakes will be key for Picayune, especially considering the level of competition the Lady Maroon Tide is scheduled to face. “Playing quality competition should give us quality results and you learn something from everybody you play. A loss isn’t always a bad thing if you can learn something from it,” Mitchell said.