The Forrest Lady Rockets put aside two days of fun in the cool sun at Panama City Beach and got back down to business on Tuesday, sweeping South Walton High School 2-1 and 5-2 behind back-to-back solid pitching performances in the circle by Katie Warrick and Sara Jordan.

Forrest also came up with some timely hitting, an improved defense, and a little bit of help by the Lady Seahawks in game two.

Good experience

"I was glad to get those two under our belt and I hope we can gain some confidence and experience for sure," said Forrest head coach Becky Cheatham. "It is good for them to have to play under pressure and when they can do that and gain that experience and confidence, we will be better later on."

In game one, Warrick out-dueled Megan Ellison in the circle, tossing all seven innings in the one-run victory.

Warrick gave up five hits, walked three, struck out nine, holding South Walton scoreless until back-to-back two-out RBI doubles in the bottom of the seventh inning by Danielle Geoffrion and Leah Ellison cut the Forrest lead in half.

Good catch

Tabitha Gardos put a scare in the Forrest traveling faithful, ripping a Warwick pitch deep to right field, but freshman Kelsey Darnell raced back and snagged the long fly ball, ending the game.

The Lady Rockets scored with two outs in the first inning when Warwick doubled to right field before Jordan drove courtesy runner Margaret Bryan home with a bullet to center.

In the top of the second inning, Kaitlin Toombs singled with one out and Kiyoko Puca drew a walk, prior to Jessica Harmon moving both runners up with a grounder to first base.

Early in the count on Darnell, a passed ball sent Toombs home with the eventual winning run, making it 2-1.

On target

Warwick tossed 1-2-3 innings in the first, fourth, and sixth, while escaping two-on, two-out situations in the second, third, and fifth innings.

Forrest had seven hits in the contest with Toombs, Jordan, and Warrick all coming up with two base hits apiece, while Mandi Conley singled once.

Darnell walked three times and Puca walked once and had a sac bunt.

After a quick lunch, Harmon led off game two with a walk and moments later, stood on second after beating a rundown to the bag.

Loaded bases

With one out, South Walton starter Savannah Clark hit Warrick with a pitch before a passed ball moved both runners up one base and Jordan walked, loading the sacks with Lady Rockets.

Savannah Brothers and Liz Daughrity followed with back-to-back RBI singles, making it 2-0.

With Puca at the plate, Bryan raced from third base and slid home on a passed ball, giving Forrest a three-run lead before Puca walked to re-load the bases.

Conley, celebrating her 18th birthday, got a rough present when she was drilled with a pitch to allow Brothers to score, and one batter later Harmon delivered an RBI single, giving the Lady Rockets all the runs they would need in the game.

Foes rally

South Walton scored their only runs in the game off Jordan in the bottom of the inning, coming up with a pair of tallies as the one-out rally was started when Leah Ellison walked and Megan Ellison doubled, putting the Ellisons on second and third.

Gardos came up with an RBI single and a fielder's choice RBI by Camille Cosson made it 5-2 before Jordan escaped with pop-up to Conley at short.

Jordan struck out three Lady Seahawks in the second inning with the first two coming on a pair of nasty third-strike changeups.

Problems solved

The only other trouble Jordan would come up against in the game was in the fourth, but Conley started a crisp double play, scooping up a ground ball and throwing to Daughrity at first, who stepped on the bag and fired a laser home to Toombs, who tagged out a Lady Seahawk runner, trying to score.

Jordan finished with seven strikeouts, walked two and gave up just three hits in the five-inning complete game.

I am real happy with our effort," said Cheatham. "Both pitchers did a good job and we did better with our errors, and Lord knows we needed to do that."

Forrest takes on Trinity Christian Academy from Jacksonville in a double-header on Wednesday to cap off their trip to Gulf.