Chico High School softball coach Mike May is learning to be a patient man. He knows his young team, which includes just two seniors, is going to make mistakes during this reloading season.

Field miscues and timely hitting by Olney were too much to overcome at home Tuesday afternoon. The Lady Dragons racked up six errors and watched as the Cubs played without a miscue in an 11-7 loss.

Chico was solid from the start as it scored twice in the first inning and led through the first three frames. The defense lost its grip on the game in the fourth inning and that changed the momentum.

Olney made the most of three CHS errors as well as clutch hitting to push five runs across home plate to make it a 6-2 game.

"We started off playing some good softball - both fielding and hitting - but just fell apart in the fourth inning where we had costly errors," said CHS coach Mike May. "Olney played error-free softball and hit the ball well when they had runners in scoring position, and it did not matter where they were in the lineup."

The Lady Dragons never quit and Rachel McKinley had something to do with it. The junior, who went 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and three scores, helped her team score twice in the fifth inning to make it a 6-4 ball game.

The Cubs refused to go away. They answered in the bottom half of the inning with three runs on four hits to move back ahead by five at 9-4.

Chico senior Kela Allen, who scored twice and went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, pitched into her team's last runs of the night. The hosts scored three times in the top of the sixth inning to once again pull within two runs at 9-7.

Chico pitcher Jessica Coffman, who allowed seven earned runs with four strikeouts and just three walks, shut out the Cubs in the bottom half of the inning to give her team a chance in the final frame.

Olney tacked on two insurance runs in its final at bat to go ahead by four. The Lady Dragons worked the bases loaded and had the tying run at the plate.

The Cubs ended the potential rally by striking out the side.

"We still had our chances as we loaded the bases in the seventh inning but we took two called strikes and another went down swinging," said May. "Our girls have got to be aggressive in those situations and be disciplined, and I think it will come."