Mortimer Jordan breezed through Friday pool play in the 53-team Huntsville Hospital-Bob Jones Softball Tournament, while Corner lost both of its pool games.

So when bracket games started on Saturday, which team made it farther?

The Yellow Jackets.

After dropping a 1-0 decision to Austin and then a 4-2 loss to No. 3 (Class 6A) Hoover, the fifth-ranked Jackets came back with a 7-1 win over Louisville duPont Manual, the 10th-ranked team in Kentucky, followed by a 2-1 squeaker over No. 3 (4A) Cherokee County, and a 9-4 drubbing of host Bob Jones, the fourth-ranked team in 6A.

Corner then ran into a buzz saw in the quarterfinals, as  pitcher Tiffany Harbin guided  Hazel Green to a 2-1 victory.

Meanwhile, Mortimer Jordan started out in pool play looking for al the world like the top-ranked team in Class 5A and the No. 11 team in the ESPN RISE Fab 50 national poll, with a 5-3 win over No. 2 (6A) Sparkman and a 7-0 shutout of Louisville Mercy, Kentucky’s third-ranked team.

In the Sparkman game, pitcher Heather Parker helped her own cause with a three-run homer. Haylie McCleney also scored two runs.

Against Mercy, Parker and freshman Lynlee Taylor (who is taking the place of the injured Blair Johnson in the pitching staff) combined to hold the Missles to just one hit. Parker allowed no hits in four innings, and had two hits of her own at the plate, as did Danae Hays.

The wins gave the Blue Devils a bye into the round of 32.

But their tournament ended in their first game on Saturday, as East Limestone handed the Devils a 4-3 loss in extra innings.

Taylor, who started, allowed two runs in the first inning. She was relieved by Parker in the third, who held East Limestone scoreless in regulation play. Meanwhile, the Devils battled back to tie it in the sixth and send the game to the international tiebreaker.

But the Indians’ Caroline Rhodes slammed a two-run homer in the top of the eighth, on the eventual game-winning hit.

Jordan tried to rally, but scored just one run on a single by Hays.