The pitching is good and the defense is coming around slowly but surely, but Decatur High School softball coach Scott McTee is waiting for his batting order to get more consistent at the plate.

He did not have to look any further than Ann Lomas in Wednesday night's District 8-3A opener against rival Bridgeport. Batting at the bottom of the lineup, she rose to the occasion as she went 2-for-3 and scored both times to lead the Lady Eagles to a 9-2 win over the Sissies.

"She has come up big lately," said McTee. "She also had a hit in the tournament last weekend that changed things."

Bridgeport made things interesting early behind the crafty pitching of Moranda Mares. She retired seven of the first eight batters she faced. Her defense also kept things quiet as it took advantage of DHS base running errors and picked off two runners at first and home.

That was the calm before the storm. With two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Lyndsey Hicks laced a single to right field. She stole second and quickly scored on a hit to right field by Mercy Staley that was misplayed and gave Decatur a 1-0 edge.

J.J Addington kept the two-out rally alive when she smashed an RBI single down the left-field line to make it a 2-0 game after three innings.

The Sissies made a little noise in the fourth frame when Bailey Jones and Janell Biles dished out a pair of singles with one out. DHS pitcher Megan Ditrich, however, had the last say as she struck out one batter and got the final out at first base to get out of the jam.

Bridgeport threatened again in the fifth frame when Chelsea Jolly made it to third base after an infield single and Kelly Kemp found second after crushing a double to centerfield with two outs. DHS first baseman Karen Harris snagged a line drive by Jones for the third out to preserve her team's 2-0 lead.

The Lady Eagles went back to work in the bottom of the inning and Lomas made it all happen after leading off with a single to left field. Hicks got on base thanks to one of Bridgeport's four errors and both scored on an error and hit by Staley to make it 4-0.

Staley soon scored on hits by Lacey Oates and Addington to make it a 4-0 ball game.

Decatur got its final four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. A mammoth double by Hicks and singles by Kayla Slimp and Lomas and errors on hits by Addington and Staley gave DHS a commanding 9-0 lead.

The Sissies broke up the shut-out in their final at bat. A single by Candice Woodard, a walk to Jolly and an error on a hit by Kemp led to two runs with two outs to close the game.