While the pink balloons and shirts of field hockey stole most of the attention on Oct. 6, the Lady Lancers quietly had a big day on the softball field.

With a 10-7 win over Parkway West, the team got the first of three victories needed to win Districts. They will face Eureka on Oct. 7 and will need to win that game plus another to advance to Sectionals.

Senior Dana Lawson and freshman Jessica Andrews both continued their strong play and had big games. Andrews pitched a complete game and struck out nine batters; Lawson went 3 for 3 and had a key RBI triple in the fifth inning.

After allowing a run in the first, the Lancers responded in the bottom of the inning when junior Lindsey Button singled to drive in Lawson to tie the score at 1-1.

The game broke open in the third inning when the Longhorns took a 4-1 lead on senior Mary Monachello’s two-run home run. But the Lancers stormed right back in the bottom half, as a double by Lawson started a rally to put them ahead 5-4.

Parkway South would load the bases in the next inning and went up 6-4 on a one-out double. The Lancers responded again in the bottom of the fourth when junior Kourtney Mueller’s RBI single capped off another rally to put them up for good.

Lawson’s triple in the sixth, along with RBI’s by seniors Mara Worley and Kate Weinzirl, added the finishing touches as the team improved to 16-12 on the season. The Oct. 7 contest against Eureka is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. at Lafayette.