MONTGOMERY — Through four innings of Wednesday morning’s opening game of the Class 5A state softball tournament, it looked as if Ardmore was in for a tough challenge. But a huge bottom of the fifth inning turned a close game into a blowout and set the stage for what Tigers coach Stephen Baugh hoped would be a successful tournament.

Ardmore scored nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to turn what was a very competitive 4-3 game into a 13-3 mercy-rule blowout.

“Anytime you run-rule a team down here it’s special, because that just doesn’t happen very much,” Baugh said. “All of these teams down here are pretty equal. Mortimer Jordan is a great team. They just made some mistakes, and we took advantage of them.”

The Tigers advanced in the winner’s bracket to face Rehobeth late Wednesday afternoon. The result of the game was after The News Courier’s press time. See www.enewscourier.com for updates.

Ardmore got started on the right foot in the bottom of the first inning when L.B. Smith launched a two-run home run. But it wasn’t smooth sailing initially, as Mortimer Jordan fought back in the top of the third inning.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, and the Blue Devils scored two runs on a throwing error following a bunt. Mortimer Jordan then took the lead with a two-out single.

Ardmore didn’t stay down for long, as the Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Karla Hice and then took advantage of three base on balls in the bottom of the fourth, including one with the bases loaded, to take a 4-3 lead.

Baugh said Ardmore’s hitting approach was to stay disciplined at the plate and make Mortimer Jordan’s pitcher throw strikes.

“She has a bad back, so if you make her throw a lot of pitches, it will be tough for her to throw strikes,” Baugh said. “So that’s what we were trying to do, and towards the fourth and fifth inning, that’s what we did.”

But the single runs in the third and fourth innings were just a warm-up to the fifth. Hice and Smith led off the inning with singles, and Addison Hurst followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt. The ball was fielded cleanly, but the throw to first was wild and rolled all the way to the outfield fence, allowing not only Hice and Smith to score but for Hurst to come all the way around and score as well. When it was all said and done, Ardmore had a 7-3 lead, and Mortimer Jordan’s spirit was broken.

“Nothing ever amazes me down here,” Baugh said. “We screw up small ball, and other teams we play screw up small ball, too. We made a mistake on a squeeze play, and then they made a mistake — it just is what it is. That’s the pressure of the situation, and that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

Ardmore was far from done in the inning, as Mackenzie McCormack had a RBI double and Olivia Stafford and Smith followed with RBI singles.

Hurst then ended the game with a three-run triple that gave the Tigers the 10-run victory.

Smith finished the game with three hits and three RBIs, while Hurst had two hits and drove in three runs. Hice also finished the game with two hits.

The offensive outburst in the bottom of the fifth inning saved pitcher Sydney Hall from having to pitch an extra two innings, which could come in handy later in the tournament, Baugh said.

“Her not having to throw those two innings is big, especially with two hits she took,” Baugh said. “She got hit by a pitch and a batter also hit a ball that hit her in the leg. So it was big that we ended the game early so she didn’t have to pitch quite as much.”