BOGUE CHITTO — The Lady Bobcats warmed up their devoted fansTuesday night during a cold, first round of state playoff action ina Class 1-A slowpitch softball series against the Mize LadyBulldogs.

Following a slow start, the Lady Cats (24-2) defeated Mize intwo games, sweeping the best-of-three series 8-7 in eight inningsand 10-0 in the second game.

“The first game we were off to a slow start with a few costlyerrors, but we picked it up the second game,” Bogue Chitto coachAdriane Albritton said about the wins.

Bogue Chitto advances to the second round of the playoffsagainst host Union at 1 p.m. Saturday. The winner will play for theSouth State title on Tuesday against the winner of the NanihWaiya-West Lincoln game.

“We’re looking forward to playing on Saturday,” Albrittonsaid.

Bogue Chitto was led to the victories by home runs from RandiMoak, Marquita Ratcliff and Amber Maldonado.

Bogue Chitto 8, Mize 7

The Lady Cats scored quickly in the opener on a Mize error inthe first inning.

Mize led off scoring in the second inning with a triple byCatelyn Bryant, bringing in Alison Underwood, followed by a singlefrom Jessica Sullivan allowing Bryant to score the Lady Bulldogs’second run.

Bogue Chitto came back with a lead-off single by pitcher KiaPorter, who came home after a double by Marley Porter and a singleby Amanda Wallace.

A triple by Jessica Melton scored Marley Porter, resulting in a3-2 lead.

The fourth inning brought the next scoring opportunity for BogueChitto, after three Mize batters hit pop-ups to shortstopMelton.

A double by Karen Wallace allowed Kia Porter to advance tothird, scoring the only run of the fourth inning when Marley Porterhit to third and was thrown out at first.

Two runs were scored by Mize in the sixth inning after an RBIand a Bogue Chitto error, making it 5-4.

The Lady Cats battled back in the sixth to take the lead againwhen Randi Moak hit a home run to center field, also bringing inAmanda Wallace, who had singled.

Base hits by Lady Bulldogs pitcher LeAnn Sullivan and AprilMorgan, combined with two more Bogue Chitto errors, resulted in tworuns for Mize in the top of the seventh inning.

Singles by Lady Cats Meleah Brown, Kia Porter and Karen Wallace,plus a Mize error, allowed Bogue Chitto to tie the game at 7-7.

In the eighth inning, Mize’s added base runner was left onsecond base when three Lady Bulldogs hit fly balls for a quickthree up, three down. Rules place a runner on second base in extrainnings in an effort to speed up the conclusion of the game.

The Lady Cats took advantage of the opportunity with their addedbase runner. A safe hit by Marley Porter, and an intentional walkfor Melton loaded the bases. The victory was sealed when Moak waswalked, bringing in the winning run.

Also hitting safely during the first game was Maldonado andMarquita Ratcliff for Bogue Chitto. Other hitters for Mize includedBrooke Robinson, Layne Travis and Brittany Sullivan.

Bogue Chitto 10, Mize 0

A lead-off single by Brown, followed with a home run byMaldonado started the scoring for Bogue Chitto in the secondinning.

Singles from Mize players Travis and Underwood put runners inscoring position at the top of the second inning, but Mize wasstopped short when a fly ball to first baseman Karen Wallaceresulted in a double play and ended the inning with Bogue Chittoleading 2-0.

A base hit by Melton for the Lady Cats, and singles by LadyBulldogs Jessica Sullivan and Brooke Robinson rounded out thescoreless third inning.

Marquita Ratcliff led off the fourth inning with a solo homer.Singles from Tracy Wallace, Kia Porter and Karen Wallace brought inthree runs for Bogue Chitto.

A Mize error in the fifth inning scored Melton and Moak, who hadhit safely, increasing the lead to 7-0.

Base hits from Lady Cats Tracy Wallace and Kia Porter, followedby a Mize error putting Karen Wallace on loaded the bases for BogueChitto in the top of the sixth inning.

Marley Porter hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring TracyWallace in. A hit by Amanda Wallace scored Kia Porter and KarenWallace, making it 10-0.

The Lady Cats defense held off the Lady Bulldogs in the bottomof the sixth inning for a 10-zip victory.

Mize coach Courtney Hale congratulated Bogue Chitto on the winand wished them luck against Union. Hale hopes her team will meetBogue Chitto again in a state playoff game next year.

“We’re a young team,” said Hale. “We’ve got one junior and therest are sophomores, freshmen and eighth graders, so we’ll be backnext year.”