Selma’s softball opener was supposed to be weeks ago, but winter weather kept the Lady Saints off the field and unable to even practice on many days. The weather finally stayed away Wednesday, allowing Selma to finally open its season. Unfortunately for the Saints, their bats didn’t show up.

Selma lost both games of a doubleheader against Hillcrest, falling 11-0 in the first game and 18-5 in the final game at the Dallas County Sportsplex. It was hard to expect the Saints to be swinging the bats at midseason precision, especially since rain has kept them off the practice field for much of the last few weeks.

“Because of the weather, we’ve had to practice in the gym, so we haven’t been able to work on offense,” said Saints head coach Jameriah Johnson “Defensively, we were okay [in the doubleheader], but the offense is what killed us.”

The lack of practice showed in the first game.

Hillcrest pitcher Hannah Payne shut down the Saints, allowing only a single by Keonna King the entire game. The Patriots led 5-0 entering the third inning but opened up the lead with a huge third inning.  Several runs were scored on wild pitches from Saints pitcher Trenda Simpson. K.K. Crocker delivered the final blow, a bases clearing triple that made it 8-0.

Hillcrest chipped in three more runs and the game was called due to the 10-run rule.

Selma started the second game with two runs on and no outs in the top of the first, but Hillcrest pitcher Kailyn Dunn retired the final three Saints batters to get her team out of the inning.

The Patriots picked up where they left off,, erupting for 12 runs in the first two innings. Selma started a rally, walking in runs from all around the diamond as Dunn struggled to find some consistency. Right in the middle of the rally, the lights on the field were accidentally cut off, resulting in a delay near 30 minutes.

Once they turned on, Hillcrest took back control.