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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – The Helena Huskies are back in the Class 6A State Tournament after defeating the Hillcrest Patriots in the 6A Central Regional Tournament on Thursday, May 11.

The win capped off an undefeated week for the Huskies in Montgomery where they defeated Northridge and Brookwood on May 10.

The scoring started in the first inning as Hillcrest loaded the bases and allowed two runs off a walk and a wild pitch.

The Patriots got a run back in the bottom of the first thanks to a Carrington Larimore single to cut the Huskies’ lead to 2-1.

After a scoreless second, third and fourth innings, Hayden Traywick hit a three-run home run to increase the Helena lead to 5-1.

The Patriots nearly got back in the game in the bottom of the seventh when an error and a walk allowed Katie Robbins to hit a two-RBI single.

The Huskies defense locked in for the final two outs and closed out the 5-3 win to advance to the state tournament.

Marlee Parsons led the team in the circle, striking out four and allowing three runs on six hits and one walk in six innings of work.

Hayden Traywick had a three-run home run, while Presley Lively finished with two hits. Emma Olive and Mary Beth Allen both finished with one hit.

Helena started their tournament run on Tuesday with a 14-3 win in five innings over Northridge.

Northridge jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Helena equaled it off a single in the bottom of the inning.

That lead increased to 6-1 by the end of the inning, with three runs coming off walks and another from a Victoria Mauterer RBI single.

The bottom of the second saw the lead jump to nine runs thanks to singles by Amori Morrison and Presley Lively and an error.

Northridge got two runs back in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly and by taking advantage of a Huskies error.

However, three runs was all that Northridge could muster. The lead jumped to 11-3 in the bottom of the fourth and then a Marlee Parsons double in the bottom of the fifth took the lead to 12-3.

The Huskies scored the last two runs off home plate steals in the same play to trigger the run rule.

The second game of the day was a back-and-forth battle with Brookwood.

Helena opened the scoring with a Mauterer RBI single in the bottom of the first.

Brookwood responded with a 2-RBI single from Lacey to put them up 2-1.

Helena put up two runs in the bottom of the second to go up 3-2, one off a Cammi Pugh single and another from a passed ball.

After Brookwood took a 4-3 in the top of the third, Helena stole it right back with home runs from Olive and Henley Traywick to go up 6-4.

Helena increased the lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Olive.

In the fifth inning, Amori Morrison hit an RBI triple to right field for Brookwood, and Helena brought in Victoria Middlebrooks on a Pugh single after Middlebrooks advanced off a passed ball and wild pitch.

With the lead now 8-5 Helena, Brookwood tied it at eight in the top of the sixth with a three run Mallory Hubbard home run.

In the bottom of the seventh and the game on the line, Brookwood allowed the bases to be loaded off two errors and a single, which let Allen hit a two-run RBI double to walk it off for the Huskies, 10-8.