[10/15/02]Warren Central’s slow-pitch softball playoff run was delayed today when heavy rains peppered the Gulf Coast.

The Lady Vikes (16-8) were scheduled to play at Biloxi today in a best-of-three series, but the games were moved to Wednesday starting at 3 p.m.

The Lady Vikes are led by eight seniors who have been to the state playoffs three years straight, including winning the North State championship in 2000.

“It won’t be a mind game because we know that we’ve been there before, and we don’t have the pressure of we’ve never done this before,'” said WC senior Anna Mitchell.

The Lady Indians (13-4) have six starting seniors who have seen three years of tournament play but have the dubious distinction of posting strong regular season records and then stumbling in the playoffs.

Despite the scouting reports, both coaches agree that success or failure in the tournament comes down to one thing.

“To me the key to the whole thing is that we hit,” Lady Vikes coach Lucy Young said. “When our bats have come alive, that allows you to make a few mistakes, which you’re going to make, and cover up those errors and get runs back that you possibly give up.”

The Biloxi defense has been unforgiving to weak-hitting teams, and the good ones for that matter.

“Defense,” Lady Indians coach Tommy Johnson said emphatically when asked about his team’s strength. “We are very aggressive defensively. If you beat us, you are going to have to hit the ball.”

Hitting the ball has never been a problem for the Lady Vikes, Young said, depending on what day they are playing.

“We’ve been so inconsistent. If we could take the hitting that we did against Vicksburg and our defense that we played against Brandon, and put those two things together, then we’ll play some good games,” Young said.

Despite their erratic hitting, the Lady Vikes will present more offensive firepower than anyone Biloxi has seen this season, Johnson said.

And though the Lady Indians are not known for a high-powered offense, they have made a habit of getting the hits they needed to win their division.

“We’ve worked on knowing the situation you’re in,” Johnson said. “We’ve had different people stepping up in different games.”

Players stepping up on the defensive side of the ball, however, has been a problem the Lady Vikes have had to deal with throughout the season, Young said.

“The story of our defense this whole season has been to allow runs to cross the plate that actually didn’t earn getting to the base to begin with,” Young said.

The playoffs have a way of magnifying these little plays and a handful of seniors on both teams know it is a win or go home situation.

“They do realize this is the best of the best, and you play all out that day because there is nothing to save it for,” Young said. “If you don’t come out as the winner it will be their last slow-pitch game.”