Suffolk News-Herald

Jessica Little struck out five and walked none for her first playoff victory as Nansemond-Suffolk Academy opened the TCIS season tournament with a 6-1 defeat of visiting Catholic on Tuesday.

&uot;This was a team effort, and everybody played great,&uot; said the sophomore Lady Saint. &uot;We had a lot of errors that we shouldn’t have had, but everybody came together in the last innings.&uot;

After Elizabeth Prochazka scored for the Lady Crusaders in the first, Mary Speight drew a walk for the Lady Saints. She got to second on an error, and scored when Megan Patterson reached on another error.

Samatha Russell bashed a triple to centerfield, and scored on an error, and Ashley Winslow hit an inside-the-park home run down the left field line to end the inning ahead 3-0.

Neither team pushed across a run for the next four innings, but the Lady Saints added to their advantage in the sixth. Russell drew a walk, stole her way to third, and scored on a passed ball. Sarah Bangley walked and stole second, and scored on a passed ball. Caroline Parker then scored, and Little shut down the Lady Crusaders to send the Lady Saints on their way to the TCIS semifinals. They’ll battle the winner of Tuesday’s Norfolk Christian/Nor-folk Collegiate game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake.

in Chesapeake.