By Brandon Sumrall/Special to the Advertiser

With wins over the Montevallo Bulldogs (6-5) and the Maplesville Red Devils (15-0), the Jemison Panthers finished in first place in the Panther Classic softball tournament on April 11.

The Panthers got the day started with a matchup against the Bulldogs in a game that required implementation of the International Tie Breaker rule to decide a winner.

The Bulldogs got on the board first with two runs in the top of the first inning, but Jemison answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning on a RBI single by Destiny Bailey.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning, a walk to Hannah Corbin brought the tying run across the plate to bring the score to 2-all.

With the Bulldogs going in order through the top of the third inning, Jessica Paschal broke the tie when she scored on an infield ground ball by Sara Epperson.

Paschal’s run, along with an error by the Bulldogs and with a RBI ground ball by Bailey, allowed the Panthers to take a 4-2 lead.

A two-on and two-out home run by the Bulldogs in the top of the fifth inning gave Montevallo a 5-4 lead, but the Panthers answered with an RBI single by Kennise Bolton to score Kelson Cole, tying the game at 5-all through five innings.

After a scoreless top of the sixth inning, Paschal started the bottom half of the inning on second as the International Tie Breaker was put into effect.

Paschal attempted to steal third, and the throw down to third by the Bulldogs’ catcher sailed into left field, allowing Paschal to score to give Jemison a 6-5 win.

The Bulldogs remained on the field for Game 2 on the day and a matchup with the Red Devils.

Montevallo faired no better in this matchup, as Maplesville came away with a 4-0 win.

All the scoring in the matchup came in the top of the second inning.

Skyler Keener started the inning with an RBI fly ball to score the game’s first run.

Kathryn Jones scored on a wild pitch, and with a two-RBI double by Alexis Goggins, the Red Devils took a 4-0 lead after two innings.

The Red Devils threatened in the top of the fourth with two on and two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning.

A bases loaded ground ball by the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fifth brought the game to a close as the 75-minute time limit expired.

With the Red Devils and Panthers both picking up wins over Montevallo, a winner-take-all final game brought the day’s activities to a close.

Cole started the Panthers’ scoring with a two-RBI single in the top of the first inning to give Jemison an early 2-0 lead.

Back-to-back RBI singles by Corbin, Bailey and Cole made it 5-0 in the top of the second.

Corbin and Bailey struck again in the top of the third, with Corbin accounting for two more RBI, and another RBI by Bailey gave the Panthers an eight-run lead after three innings of play.

The Panthers added three more in the top half of the fourth inning, and with the Jemison defense continuing to hold the shutout, the Panthers took an 11-0 lead after four innings of play.

With four consecutive RBI singles in the top of the fifth, Jemison poured on four more runs to make it a 15-0 game.

With a three-up, three-down bottom of the inning, Jemison secured the shutout along with first place in the tournament.