CUMBERLAND – Things came easy for the Prince Edward County High School softball team in its Tuesday afternoon non-district contest at Cumberland that resulted in a 16-4 victory for the Lady Eagles.

Prince Edward (3-1) won its third consecutive game of the season, and appears to have come a long way both at the plate and in the field since losing its season-opener to Buckingham.

“We hit the ball well,” said PECHS head coach Marvin Meadows. “We've worked hard on both our defense and hitting. I was proud of the way they did both today.

“We hit the ball hard, and got solid base hits. That's what I like to see.”

Up 2-1 in the top of the third, Prince Edward scored two runs, and another four in the top of the fourth to build a solid, 8-1 lead.

In the four-run fourth, Sarina Eames reached on a one-out walk and moved to third on a double to the left-field fence by Lindsay LeSueur. Both scored on a two-RBI single by Elizabeth Reed. Reed and Estephanie Luperon scored on a two-RBI single by pitcher Emily Roach.

Like teams that show a lack of confidence can do from time to time, Cumberland had a hard time with its consistency on defense. Good plays in the field were followed up by bad ones.

“These girls know the game,” said first-year head coach Travis Gilliam. “Some of them have been playing on the varsity since they were freshmen. I think sometimes they're thinking too much, instead of trusting what they know and playing on instinct. Prince Edward does that.”

After scoring a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, Prince Edward tacked on another six runs, mostly on solid hits, to take a 16-1 lead, before Cumberland scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Roach pitched a complete game to take the victory for the Lady Eagles.

“We're doing the right things so far,” said Meadows. “With six of our starters either freshmen or sophomores, we're a work in progress, but so far so good.

“We've improved quicker than I thought we would by this time, but especially with our youth, we could fall off just as quickly. We have Randolph-Henry on Friday. We could continue to play well, or go out and make five or six errors.”

“We've got to be more disciplined at the plate,” said Gilliam. “Each batter has four balls and three strikes, and the more successful teams make the opposing pitcher use most of them. Our pitching was not that bad, really, but their batters made them work until they got the pitch they wanted.

“I think some things just mushroomed on us today, but we've got to be more disciplined and I'd also like to see a little more hustle. You can't just get down and say it's over. The other team is still going to do what it's going to do.”

Cumberland was scheduled to begin James River District play on Thursday afternoon at Randolph-Henry, and will travel to face Central Virginia Home School on Friday, before returning home to face JRD foe Central of Lunenburg on Tuesday, March 27.

Prince Edward hosts Randolph-Henry on Friday, and will host Fluvanna on Tuesday, before beginning Southside District play next Thursday at Park View.