KIMBERLY—Mortimer Jordan freshman Brooke Nash reached out with two hands and slid across the plate in the fifth inning on Tuesday night for the final run in a 10-0 mercy-rule win over No. 3 Hayden (25-7).

Nash, who sat out with an injury for most of the game, checked in to run for Morgan Maze and scored from second on a Danilyn Moore walk-off line drive into center field. She outran the throw home and hopped up to celebrate her teams’ second high-end win in the last five days.

Sixth-ranked Mortimer Jordan also beat Class 6A No. 1 Gardendale 10-9 last Thursday night in Kimberly. That win broke a four-game skid for the Blue Devils (22-13).

“We had been struggling and then we kind of got out of it that game, because nothing had been going our way,” said Moore.

The home team did damage with runners aboard. Eighth-grader Ainsley Grimes led the way with four RBIs to go with three more from Nash and two slapped in by Maia Townsend. As a team, Mortimer Jordan went 9 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Hayden finished 1 for 5 in such situations.

A six-run, seven-hit fourth broke things open for Mortimer Jordan. Already sitting on a 3-0 cushion, pitcher Madi Maze lit the fuse with a run-scoring single back up the middle. Moore, Grimes and Townsend each went on to drive runs in for the Blue Devils, who took a 9-0 lead after four.

Right-hander Madi Maze worked a complete game shutout, recording six strikeouts and stranding five Wildcats on base. She threw with her first lead in the top of the fourth following a two-out bases-clearing double from Grimes in the home-half of the third.

From that point, Maze notched three of her strikeouts and retired six of the final eight batters she faced.

Her sister Morgan Maze went home 3 for 3 with a double.

Lani Adams started in the circle for Hayden. She lasted three innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Savannah Painter relieved her in the fourth and was chased after a two-run single from Townsend gave Mortimer Jordan a 9-0 advantage.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
HHS	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	0	2	0
MJ	0	0	3	6	1	–	–	10	14	1

The Gardendale softball team (37-2) earned its third tournament championship of the season with a 4-0 run through the Sumiton Christian Tournament over the weekend.

Friday wins over Class 7A No. 6 Hewitt-Trussville, 7A No. 8 Oak Mountain and Tuscaloosa County, who is receiving votes in 7A, paired the No. 1 Rockets with Cordova on Saturday in bracket play. A 4-0 win over the Blue Devils was enough to seal the tournament crown as Tuscaloosa County forfeited the finals, likely due to poor weather conditions in the Tuscaloosa area.

Gardendale later closed out area play with a 16-0 win over Center Point. The Rockets finished league play at 6-0 and will host the Class 6A, Area 12 Tournament on May 2.

Gardendale blasted Jasper 11-5 on Tuesday thanks in part to four RBIs from Savannah Pennington. Kaitlyn Clark and Haley Horton shared the innings on the rubber.

The Mortimer Jordan baseball team (25-11) slipped up for a 6-4 loss to John Carroll on Tuesday

The Blue Devils also tore past Pinson Valley on Monday, 11-6. Junior Ian Ellerbrock earned the win in five innings of work. He struck out three batters and allowed as many runs in the win. Senior Joseph Swann started the game and allowed three runs through the first two innings before handing the ball over to Ellerbrock.

Sophomore Garrison McCleney went 3 for 4 at the dish with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Mortimer Jordan hosts a best 2-of-3 playoff series agains Central Clay County on Friday.

The Corner baseball team (18-14) closed out its season on Monday, trouncing Parker 14-1 in five innings.

The Jackets scored nine runs in the first and sent five more around in the second. Parker’s lone run crossed in the top of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the 10-run mercy rule.

For Corner, Colby Drummond drove in four runs to go with three RBIs from Bailey Echols. Both Drummond and Echols finished with two hits in the home win.

The Corner softball team won two of its five games at the Sumiton Christian Tournament over the weekend.

The Yellow Jackets notched a 4-2 win over Cordova and an 8-7 win over Carbon Hill while taking losses to Sumiton Christian, Oak Mountain and Tuscaloosa County. Lauren Dill slapped in five total runs in Corner’s two tournament wins.

Erik Harris is the Sports Editor of The North Jefferson News. Email him at njnsports@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jeharris2.