Naylor's Mariah Goodrum slides safely into home as Doniphan pitcher Mary Beth Cosgrove waits for a throw after a passed ball. (Alex Abate/DAR)

DONIPHAN -- Naylor's Chelsea Lane likes playing Doniphan and it showed Thursday afternoon.

Lane had nine strikeouts and allowed just one run as the Lady Eagles moved past the Donettes, 7-1.

"She came back and did what she was supposed to do," Naylor coach Gene Deckard said. "It looked like from the other day, she learned her mistakes and today she came back and did her job."

After three scoreless innings, the Lady Eagles got their offense going in the top of the fourth.

Courtney Sullivan singled on a line drive to center field and later stole second. After a strike out and a fly out, Lane reached on an error that allowed Sullivan to score. After a Katelyn Hughey single, Holly Deckard doubled to center field to make it 3-0.

"Mary Beth (Cosgrove) did a great job of jamming us and getting it inside," Deckard said. "We finally recognized that is how she was trying to pitch us and our girls got off the plate and adjusted and had some big drives."

Doniphan responded with a run in its half of the inning but the Lady Eagles added three more in the fifth to make it 6-1. Kayla Arnold walked and later scored with two outs to make it 4-1 and Tabitha Elliot scored on a Mariah Goodrum triple to make it 5-1. Goodrum scored on a passed ball to make it 6-1.

"We have been working on (hitting)," Lane said. "Our big bats stepped up today and worked it out for us."

The big deficit for the Donettes became a bit of a mental hurdle, coach Brad Phillips said.

"It just seemed like we got down a little bit and just never could refocus and come back and get back in the ballgame," Phillips said.

Naylor's Courtney Sullivan slides into second base as Doniphan's Jan Smith (7) gets the throw and Kaylee Ware (16) backs up the play. (Alex Abate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

Although the Lady Eagles did put multiple runs on the board, they failed to get a hit through the first three frames.

"I haven't been able to get through these girls' head yet or they haven't realized it," Deckard said. "How important it is to start the game in full speed."

Before Naylor got its last run in the seventh, Doniphan had a solid scoring chance in its half of the sixth. With one out, Taylor Cline singled to center field before Kaylee Ware singled to left. After a strikeout, Christin Ivy got an infield hit to shortstop to load the bases. However, Lane got a strikeout to end the threat.

"(We) just couldn't get the bat on the ball," Phillips said. "I think we swung at some pitches a little bit high and out of the strike zone and just couldn't get it going."

Lane was able to execute when she had to, Deckard said.

"She got ahead in the count and found the girls' weakness and stayed right there," Deckard said. "That is classic Chelsea."

Sullivan finished the game with two hits and two runs scored for Naylor while Ivy finished with the lone RBI for the Donettes.

Naylor improves to 3-2 in the win while the Donettes fell to 3-1 with their first loss.

"We got a big tournament this weekend at West Plains," Phillips said. "That is going to really test us to see where we are at because we are going to be playing some teams that are a lot bigger and have a higher classification."

Deckard likes how his young team is doing early in the season.

"They are starting to come along and starting to make some plays," he said. "I wish they would take the first inning or two and get their blood flowing a little bit faster but we are getting there."