The Bowdon High School softball team advanced into the championship round of the winner's bracket after coming out on top of its first two games in the Region 6-A Tournament at Alto Park in Rome on Tuesday.

The No. 8 Red Devilettes (18-10) opened tournament play with a 10-2, five-inning victory over Darlington, then knocked off North Cobb Christian by a 6-3 count in the second round, setting up a 6 p.m. showdown against top-ranked Gordon Lee (27-1) today.

The winner of that contest will advance to the championship game, while the other squad will have to climb out of the loser's bracket in the double-elimination format.

With its two wins on Tuesday, Bowdon assured itself of a berth in the Class A state playoffs, but now it is battling for seeding and, of course, a Region 6-A Tournament title.

Gordon Lee beat Excel Christian and Bremen in its first two games, including a 9-0, five-inning victory over the Lady Blue Devils in Tuesday night's late game. Bremen (19-7), which opened tournament action with a 1-0 win over Trion on Tuesday, will face Darlington today at 4 p.m. in an elimination game. The winner will earn a state playoff berth.

In Bowdon's opener against Darlington, junior hurler Madison Runyan got the win in the circle, working all five innings, yielding two earned runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Offensively, Ember Wood and Trinity Strickland led the way, with Wood going 3-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI, while Strickland was also 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBI.

Rounding out Bowdon's top hitters were Runyan (1-for-1, 2 sacrifices), Lyric Maze (1-for-2, RBI), Anna Teague (1-for-2, run), Kaitlynn Farmer (1-for-2, 2 runs), Madison Dye (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) and Jacole Stephens (1-for-3, RBI).

In the win over North Cobb Christian, Strickland kept her hot bat going with another 3-for-3 effort, with a walk and three runs scored. Maze (1-for-2, run, RBI), Dye (1-for-2), Farmer (1-for-3, run) and Stephens (1-for-4) also had hits.

Strickland got the complete-game effort in the circle to earn the win, allowing one earned run on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Bowdon coach Ralph Sanders said his ball club now has an opportunity to put itself in position to make a run for not only the region title, but a strong state playoff push, as well.

"We played real well [Tuesday]. We played good defense. I told the girls it's where I thought we should be. You know, I thought we were at that point where we should be up there with the Gordon Lees and the Bremens and all those folks," Sanders said. "We played real well, played real good defense and pitched real well. On top of all that, we hit the ball real well."

In Bremen's tournament opener against Trion, Jacquelyn Hightower tossed a complete-game shutout, while Kayla Chapman drove home the game's only run.

In other prep softball action:

Central Middle School 12, Bowdon 1: The Lady Lions (3-1) got a one-hitter from hurler Emily Williams, who struck out eight.

Offensively, Matti Hutcheson, Logan North and Ashleigh Hurston all had two hits apiece, while Logan Wood and Mallory Jeter each had one hit.

Central returns to action on Friday at Haralson County.

Prep Football

Mt. Zion JV 20, Woodland (Ala.) 14: The Eagles got the six-point victory on Tuesday night, getting a six-yard touchdown run from Matt Turner and a 10-yard touchdown run by Corey Loftin to go up 14-0 following a Loftin two-point pass to Cody Spicer.

Mt. Zion would add one more score before halftime, as Tryston Cash caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Loftin and the Eagles were up 20-0 at the break.

The Eagles' defense would concede a pair of touchdowns to Woodland in the second half, but Matthew Chambers was able to put together quality runs on MZ's final possession to help run time off the clock.