After Friday's district opener with Jacksboro was snowed out, the Chico High School softball team patiently waited for the weather to clear before returning to the field.

The game was never made up, but the Lady Dragons made the wait worthwhile Monday at Holliday. Despite four errors in the game, Chico came up with several defensive gems, solid pitching and timely hits to blast the Eagles 11-4.

Clinging to a slim 5-4 lead in the final inning, the Lady Dragons lit up the Holliday defense in their last try. Shelby Barnes and Kaci Walker, who had two hits each, helped score six runs on six hits in the top of the seventh inning to pull away for the victory.

"We were pretty rusty as we haven't had much practice time because of all the weather problems, but as the game went on we got better," said CHS coach Mike May.

Chico also had its share of big-time plays on defense. Second baseman Rachel McKinley, shortstop Stephanie Stephens and leftfielder Delani Long had spectacular catches to rob the Eagles of potential runs.

The defensive help came in the circle where pitcher Jessica Coffman continues to dominate. She allowed three earned runs on five hits and struck out nine batters.

"We got another solid performance from Jessica who continues to gain confidence after an early-season injury," said May. "This was a good way to start district."

Coffman's teammates were just as impressed with her showing.

"Jessica was bringing the heat tonight - her pitches were awesome," said McKinley. "Everyone did great tonight. We played our game the way it's supposed to be played. We did have errors that we are going to have to fix, but softball is what we do, so we will still be working on it."

Holliday scored one run in the first inning to take the first lead. The Lady Dragons evened the game with one run in the second and took a 3-1 lead with two more in the third frame.

The Eagles, however, made Chico work for everything and used an error to score twice in the fifth inning and even the score at 3-3.

The Lady Dragons scored two more runs in the sixth inning to go ahead 5-3. After the Eagles cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the inning, Chico blew the game open in the seventh.

Offensively, Walker knocked in three runs to lead the offensive assault for Chico. Shanna Fatheree and Stephens ripped a pair of singles, while Barnes and Walker scored two times each.