The Lady Saints softball team took its first loss on the season Thursday afternoon.

Greenbrier Christian Academy and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy matched up in what was arguably one of the most anticipated regular-season games in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association. The teams went into their Thursday afternoon matchup ranked No. 1 and No. 2, with NSA holding the top spot.

GCA defeated NSA 6-2. The team got out to a 4-0 lead after the first two innings and was able to hold NSA off for the rest of the game.

NSA scored its only two runs of the game in the fourth inning. Gabby Infranco hit a homerun for the Lady Saints and went 2-2 with two RBIs and a run. Madison Inscoe and Reese Byrd pitched for NSA, with Inscoe handling most of the load. Byrd was credited for the loss.

Even though this was the first loss on the season, the Lady Saints don’t feel the need to press the panic button.

“We think GCA is a very good team, but there are things we could have done differently,” senior Emerson Puzey said. “We struggled with hitting and made some errors in the field. Overall, it was a learning experience that we always have to be on top of our game and make adjustments.”

NSA is now 17-1 on the year as the team gets prepared for the conference tournament. They are still confident about what they can accomplish going forward.

“This team has accomplished so much already,” Puzey said. “These girls are a bunch of ballers that always compete and push the girl next to them. I know we are capable of accomplishing huge things this postseason.”

GCA 6, NSA 2

GCA 1 3 0 0 0 2 0—6

NSA 0 0 0 2 0 0 0—2

GCA: Hits 6—Ruberti 2, Myers, Englar, Packert, Castine; Runs 6—Ruberti 2, Kitchen 2, Englar, Boyd; RBI 2—Castine, Packert

NSA: Hits 6—Inscoe 2, Chang, Goodman, Wilson Greene; Runs 2—Wilson, Infranco; RBI 2—Infranco 2