The Blue Devils’ Haylie McCleney slides into second base as Wildcat shortstop Mara Conner makes the catch in Thursday’s 2-1 win by Mortimer Jordan

Not all home runs are equal.

Mortimer Jordan’s Danae Hays sent the ball over the left-center fence, as did her Hayden counterpart, Mara Conner.

But Blue Devils pitcher Blair Johnson was on base for Hays’ blast, and that was the difference in Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Wildcats, which gave Jordan a 5-1 area record and home-field advantage in the area playoffs.

Johnson faced only 22 batters, and the only hit she gave up was Conner’s homer. Hayden starter Katie Parr and reliever Caitlin Kirkland combined to allow three hits. Jordan (16-5) threatened in the sixth inning when Johnson singled and Hayes walked with no outs, but both were stranded there

The Wildcats had two other runners reach base, but both were thrown out on the base paths.

The Devils win came after an exasperating loss to Curry on Tuesday, which prompted Coach Laura Rickman to try some new things. “We needed to regroup and find our rhythm. We were getting a little stale,” Rickman said.

Hayden finishes second in the area, and will take on the third seed in the area tournament at Jordan in two weeks. That will either be Walker or Curry, depending on the outcome of tiebreakers; both the Vikings and Yellow Jackets finished with 2-4 area records.