Andalusia coach Marcus Taylor said Monday that it was a good experience for his team to play in the annual Andalusia High Schools softball tournament Saturday at the Andalusia Sports Complex.

The Lady Bulldogs finished the day 3-2. Andalusia (8-2, 1-0 in Class 4A, Area 3) fell to Enterprise 6-3 in the first game; beat sixth-ranked Ashford 1-0 in the second game; defeated Opp 2-0 in a re-match and fell to Jackson 8-1.

The Lady Bulldogs earned their third win when Greenville forfeited because of an injured player.

“It was a success because we needed some experience in tournament play,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to come to this tournament thinking we’ll be here all day and all night. For some of these girls, it was the first time they have played in a tournament. It was good for us because we were here for the better part of the day.”

In the first game against Enterprise, after trailing 3-0, Andalusia managed to tie the game up 3-3 in the third inning.

Enterprise then went on a three-run spurt in the fourth inning before the game was stopped because time had elapsed.

In the Ashford game, Andalusia’s Paige Caraway scored her team’s only run on a passed ball.

With the game tied at 0-0, Andalusia then went on to beat Opp when Caraway and Emily Terry scored in the fourth inning.

It was a different story in the Jackson seven-run loss for Andalusia.

Taylor said simply the girls were out of “gas.”

“We went right from the Opp game to playing Jackson, and we got up for Opp because it was a rivalry game,” he said. “And in a matter of five minutes, we were playing again. I think we were just out of gas.”

Tonight, the Lady Bulldogs will take on Straughn at the complex in a regular season rivalry game.

Taylor said it’s always a big game to have the opportunity to play Straughn.

“It’s a huge game for us,” Taylor said. “I think our girls will get up for it for sure. Everybody knows how good Straughn is. I think these girls want to prove that they can play with them.

“That’s ultimately what we want to do,” he said. “We want to compete. We want to put our best effort out there and compete with one of the best teams around.”

Junior varsity starts at 4 p.m.