COLLINSVILLE — The Lady Knights battled two opponents. West Lauderdale opened its second-round Class 4A tilt against Vancleave at home Saturday, and in addition to grappling with the Lady Bulldogs, the Lady Knights tussled with themselves. An opportunistic Vancleave team took advantage of West Lauderdale errors to grab a 2-1 win in eight innings that sent the Lady Bulldogs back home into Monday's Game 2 with a 1-0 series advantage. “We’ve beaten ourselves all year, to be honest with you,” West Lauderdale coach Jessie Kennedy said. “I don’t think we’ve legitimately lost a game, just got outright beaten this year, it’s been on errors. Two errors in the first inning there, miscommunication errors, they’ll bite you in the end.” West Lauderdale (17-5) committed three errors in the extra-innings affair, and Vancleave wasted little time turning the Lady Knights' misfortune into its luck. In the top of the second, Vancleve’s Sarah Vice sent a popup toward the outfield that plopped on the turf as West Lauderdale’s fielders failed to corral it. The mishap allowed Brynn Daughtery, who reached first base after a West Lauderdale fielding error at the top of the frame, to score the game’s opening run. West Lauderdale’s Hailey Talley laced a line drive toward left field in the top of the seventh that plated Kristin Hayes and tied the score at one. Hayes was mobbed by her teammates as she walked back to the Lady Knights’ dugout. Talley advanced to third following a Vancleave passed ball, but Daughtery thwarted West Lauderdale’s chance at a walk-off win when she snagged a hard-hit ball from Kacey Williams at the hot corner. The Lady Bulldogs opened the top of the eighth inning with Anna Pierce on second base in accordance with the MHSAA-approved extra-innings rules. Autumn Pierce moved her to third with a sacrifice bunt, sending Jenna Pacheco into the batter’s box as Vancleave’s second at-bat. Pacheco sent West Lauderdale pitcher Lexie Smith’s fifth pitch toward shortstop, but the Lady Knights committed their third error of the afternoon on the play, which resulted in Anna Pierce rounding home for the Lady Bulldogs’ second run. West Lauderdale left runners on second and third in the bottom of the eighth. With offense at a premium Saturday, Smith and Lady Bulldogs pitcher Avery Johnston stole the show with impeccable performances from the circle. Both pitchers went the distance. Smith needed just 88 throws to make it through eight innings. She yielded just three hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a Vancleave batter. Smith’s counterpart also allowed only three hits and threw 93 pitches. She fanned 10, and like Smith, didn’t issue any walks. West Lauderdale heads to Vancleave Monday for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3. Kennedy said her team's focus heading into Monday is quite clear. “Moving forward, first off, we have to come ready to do the little things right,” she said. “If you do the little things right, then everything else will fall in place. Secondly, we need to focus. Errors in the first inning hurt us — they scored one on that, and it’s a different ball game in they don’t score on that error. And then getting the job done at the plate, not relying on one or two people to come in and get the job done. Execution is huge, and that’s what we need to do.”