After opening up the region portion of their schedule the Oxford softball team faced their first setback on Thursday.

The Chargers fell to 2-6A foe Hernando, losing 13-2 in five innings at Oxford Middle School. The Tigers used a seven-run second inning to break the game open.

Coming off their win over Southaven to open up region play, Oxford (6-8, 1-1 2-6A) struggled in Thursday’s game as the youth of their roster was evident at times.

“It’s one of those things where if you look at our lineup we have a freshman on the mound. We have an eighth grader on shortstop, a seventh-grader on second and the oldest player is a junior,” said Oxford head coach Tabitha Beard. “Sometimes it’s hard to compete in certain situations. One of the things I tell them a lot is fear sometimes hinders that ability and being able to play through that. I just hope they understand I’ll put them up against a team like Hernando any day of the week because I see that potential in this group of kids.”

Maddie Jones was the starter for Oxford and pitched a complete game. After giving up the seven runs, Jones responded in the third inning by keeping the Tigers off the board. Jones also held Hernando scoreless in the fifth inning after giving up three more runs in the fourth frame.

The freshman recorded two strikeouts and walked three batters in five innings of work.

“I have put (Jones) in some really crazy situations over the last three years and she’s a bulldog,” Beard said. “She’s been battling through injury and me riding her tail because it’s one of those things where I forget sometime she is a freshman. Her competitive nature at times is so big and getting that out of her all the time. …I’ve put her in some tough situations and it’s not always fun, it can’t be, but she handles it better than most.”

The Chargers scored their two runs in the third inning. Third baseman Addy Shorter had an RBI-double in the inning and finished 1-for-3.