Calhoun High School softball coach Diane Smith admits it.
With her Lady Yellow Jackets facing rival Ringgold for the Region 6-AAA title Friday, she was glad to have any extra help she could get, including from the weather.
Calhoun beat Ringgold 4-3 at Jack Mattox Park in Ringgold, with the championship game called by officials with two outs in the sixth inning on account of lightning. It was the third weather delay of a game that started at 5 p.m. and didn't finish until almost 9 despite not going the full seven innings.
But it did make it to the five-inning mark, enough to count as an official game for GHSA rules, and with Smith's team leading, that was fine with her.
"We expect to end up playing them in the (state) championship game," she said. "We will not play a team in the state any better than Ringgold. They've got a great ball team, we've got a great ball team, and I know they don't give up. To tell the truth, I'm glad the lightning came so we didn't have to play one more inning."
Calhoun (27-3), which won state titles the past two seasons and beat Ringgold (23-5) to claim the AAA crown last year, is following a similar script to 2014. Last year, Ringgold got the best of the Lady Jackets twice during the regular season and in their first meeting during the region tournament.
But Calhoun came out of the losers' bracket to beat Ringgold twice in the region championship round last season, and the Lady Jackets finished a repeat of that feat Friday. Calhoun beat Ringgold 6-1 on Thursday to force Friday's "if necessary" game in the double-elimination tournament.
Calhoun lost just one starter from last season, and Smith believes the experience of 2014 helped her team remain upbeat despite Ringgold's regular-season sweep and victory earlier this week.
"They kept saying we're going to do what we did last year they knew not to give up because they had done it before," Smith said.
Ringgold took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first Friday, but Calhoun answered with two-run outputs in the second and third. The Lady Tigers put pressure on the Lady Jackets with a two-run sixth, but Smith said improved defense and another good outing from starting pitcher Kinsey Liscio (13-3) made the difference.
But she knows the line between her team and the Lady Tigers is a thin one - and unpredictable as to who will end up on the happy side of it.
"It's always a battle between Ringgold and us," Smith said.
' The Region 7-AAAA softball championship game between Ridgeland and Heritage almost got finished Friday - or not.
Anyway, it is scheduled to resume in the bottom of the seventh inning today at 4 p.m. but may be moved from Heritage to Northwest Whitfield because of field conditions.
With the score tied at 2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the host Generals had runners on second and first with one out when rain halted play.
Both Heritage and Ridgeland will host first-round state playoff series beginning Wednesday.