SPRING MILLS - Spring Mills had four days off between games in the Class AAAA, Region II, Section 1 softball tournament.

After beating Hedgesville last Thursday, the top-seeded Cardinals didn't return to action until Monday, where they again played the Eagles, this time for a chance to win the section.

Spring Mills showed no signs of rust, as it used an 11-hit attack to defeat Hedgesville 8-4 and win the sectional title, advancing to regional play against either Jefferson or Washington.

The Cardinals (18-8) shut out the Eagles when the two teams first met in sectional play, but the clinching game was much tighter.

Earlier on, though, it was Spring Mills jumping out to a 6-1 lead after five innings, including three runs in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and another in the fifth inning.

Ashbey Darlington led off the second inning with a single to right field, and Jocilyn Graham followed with a no-doubt, two-run homer to left field to put the Cardinals up 2-0. Paige Houghton followed that with a single and eventually scored on an RBI single by Claire Wetzel to extend the lead to 3-0.

Spring Mills' lead went to 5-0 in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Allyson Selby and a double by Wetzel and to 6-1 in the fifth inning after Houghton singled home Chloe Munson, who walked to start the inning.

Hedgesville made things interesting in the top of the sixth with three runs. With one down, Maggie Boyer doubled, stole third and scored on an error to make the score 6-2. The next batter, Lexie Brown, tripled on a line drive to center field to score Miller, and then Brown scored when the throw home got away, making the score 6-4 in favor of the Cardinals.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Spring Mills gave itself some breathing room with a pair of runs, which came on a two-run double by Darlington that scored Wetzel, who reached on an error, and Munson, who was intentionally walked. 

That made the score 8-4, where it stood after the Cardinals ended the game on double play.

Darlington and Wetzel led Spring Mills with three hits and two RBI, while Houghton had three hits and an RBI and Graham two RBI, all coming on her home run.

Taryn Close earned the pitching win, allowing three runs (four earned) on hits in a complete-game effort.

Chloe Frankhouser, who suffered the loss in the circle, led the Eagles with pair of hits.

Class AAAA, Region II, Section 2

Jefferson 8, Washington 0

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION - Facing elimination, top-seeded Jefferson put together a solid performance on Monday in a shutout win over Washington.

The Cougars (19-4) limited the Patriots (18-5) to just four hits thanks to a solid performance by Becca Munslow, who also struck out 10 hitters.

Chloe Cowan led Jefferson with three hits and two RBI, including a home run in the sixth inning. Jersey Rummel, Brooke Allen, Graclyn Dodson and Caroline Abe each had two hits, while Savannah Smith had a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

For Washington, Zoe Kesterson, who took the loss, had two hits.

The teams, weather permitting, will play again tonight. The winner will be the sectional champion and advance to play Spring Mills in the Region II tournament.