PARIS -- There are signs from Slater that the fortunes of the softball program are looking up.

Oh, there were some of the same old Lady Wildcat bugaboos on display Tuesday during a 2-0 loss at Paris in their Lewis and Clark Conference opener.

Both of the Lady Coyotes' runs were the result of errors, junior Kayla Redmon scoring on a bad throw after walking with one out in the bottom of the first inning and two miscues allowing senior Kayla Luckett to round the circuit on her base hit in the second.

Redmon fired a three-hit shutout, striking out 10 batters for Paris (2-1, 1-0 L&C). Slater's best scoring opportunity was in the sixth, when singles by freshmen Kaylee Holt and Betty Goodman put the tying run on base with one out and the top of the order coming to bat.

Still, despite that missed chance, the Lady 'Cats are proving more competitive this season. One reason, of course, is senior pitcher Rachel Gonzalez -- who didn't allow an earned run and struck out five batters while taking the hard-luck loss.

Another is that Slater's bats have shown the ability to hit less than stellar pitching. That was true last week during a 23-2 rout of Glasgow, the Purple's largest margin of victory in some 10 years.

Another freshman, third baseman Danielle Allen, pounded out three hits and knocked in five runs during the barrage. Sophomore Marissa Weiher had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.

During that contest, Slater drew 20 walks and stole 29 bases, six by junior speedster Niki Kruger and four more by Goodman and junior Lexsi Griffith.

There's still a ways to go for the Lady 'Cats (1-2, 0-1) to make up ground on one of the state's traditionally tough leagues, but thus far they are showing more of an aptitude for keeping games close.