MONROE, La. &045; As young as the Huntington Lady Hounds are, they’re just taking one small step at a time.

But put Saturday’s win over Franklin Academy at the River Oaks tournament was a huge step. The Lady Hounds took a 3-1 win over Franklin in the semifinals for their first win over the Winnsboro school in nine tries dating back to last year.

Franklin came back and beat Huntington 4-1 in the finals, but inclement weather prevented the two from playing a decisive final game. Tournament officials declared both teams co-champs.

&uot;Our little girls are improving,&uot; Huntington head coach Rut Horne said. &uot;Franklin was our nemesis last year, and they won South State. I have to say our pitching was dominant in the tournament. Erin (Hedrick) didn’t give up an earned run. We’re dropping fly balls &045; they’re not hard-hit balls but looping fly balls. We’ll get better with that.&uot;

Hedrick got the win in all three wins for the Lady Hounds but had to come off in the final game when she took a line drive in the face in the fourth inning. The Lady Cougars had rallied to take a 2-1 lead at that point, but Hedrick had nine strikeouts to her credit.

Brandy Butts finished the game, and the Lady Hounds couldn’t rally off FA pitcher Heidi Lee, the hard-throwing lefty who allowed the one run in the first when Krystal Arnold singled in Jessi Lee.

Hedrick went to a Monroe hospital after the game but may be able to throw today when the Lady Hounds visit Franklin.

&uot;She didn’t have time to get her glove up,&uot; Horne said. &uot;It hit her right in the side of the jaw. She’s going to be all right. Last night she couldn’t open her mouth, and today she could open it. But she’s a gamer. She didn’t want to come out last night. You’d have to put her in the hospital (to miss).&uot;

In the win over Franklin, the Lady Hounds rallied off Heidi Lee in the sixth to score three runs and overcome a 1-0 deficit. Megan Wilkinson was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Amberlee Collard followed with a bunt that Franklin overthrew to first to score Wilkinson.

Julie Moak sacrificed Collard to third, Jessi Lee walked and Hedrick walked to load the bases. The Lady Cougars forced Collard out at the plate on an Arnold grounder, but Butts delivered a shot to right center to score Jessi Lee and Hedrick for the 3-1 lead.

The Lady Hounds opened the tournament with a 7-0 win in four innings over Central School and then landed a 1-0 win in six over River Oaks. Hedrick allowed just three hits in the 10 innings of work.