The Lafayette High softball team fell behind in its MHSAA Class 4A first-round playoff series against West Lauderdale with a 9-4 loss Friday at the LHS softball field.

The teams wrapped up the best-of-three series Saturday with a second and third game if necessary. They were not completed by press time.

The Commodores (14-10) had 13 hits against West Lauderdale’s Lexie Smith but didn’t score until their final at-bat. Smith went the distance to get the win while Chloe Russell was pegged with the loss for Lafayette after allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings and striking out four.

West Lauderdale plated runs in each of the first three innings, two in the fifth and four more in the seventh to build its commanding lead. West Lauderdale got some help from the Commodores, who committed two errors leading to four unearned runs for the Knights.

Xhiir Burgess went 3-for-4 for Lafayette while Hope Patton had two hits and drove in two runs. Mariah Holland also had an RBI. Smith and Morgan Mayatt each had three hits for West Lauderdale while Mallory Thompson knocked in two runs.