BUDE — Franklin County’s fast-pitch softball team was off to its best start in school history before losing two games last Saturday at the Grace Christian (La.) Tournament.

It didn’t take long for the Lady Bulldogs to get back in the win column, but it wasn’t exactly easy Tuesday night as they held on for a 5-3 win over the West Marion Lady Trojans in their Division 7-3A opener.

“Over in Louisiana last weekend, we didn’t play good defense. We played much better defense tonight,” Franklin County head coach Dana Smith said.

Franklin County broke a scoreless tie by scoring one run in the bottom of the third inning, but West Marion came right back with one run of its own in the top of the fourth. The Lady Bulldogs gave themselves some much-needed breathing room by putting across four runs in the bottom of the fifth.

The Lady Trojans cut the lead to 5-3 after scoring two runs in the top of the sixth, but that would be as close as they would get as winning pitcher Destiny Dedeaux shut them out in the top of the seventh.

Morgan Knapp doubled and went 2-for-4 while Allison Hauer had a triple and Kenyatta Hunt had a double for Franklin County (11-2, 1-0).

“Our bats are in a slump, but we’re working to come out of it,” Smith said. “We’ve just got to stay focused.”

Oak Hill 7, Monterey 0

MONTEREY — Oak Hill got a complete-game shutout from A. Jarrell as the Lady Rams defeated the Monterey Lady Wolves in District 6-B action Tuesday afternoon.

Jarrell allowed just five hits, struck out six and walked none over seven innings to pick up the win. She also went 2-for-4 with a home run. Oak Hill took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and that was all the run support Jarrell needed as she kept Monterey’s batters off balance throughout the game.

But the Lady Rams weren’t done putting runs across home plate. They scored two runs in three of the last four innings. They ended up with eight hits in the game and were aided by four Lady Wolves errors. C. Barton also went 2-for-4 with a home run while C. Smith doubled and was 2-for-4.

Monterey (7-11, 1-3) had no extra base hits and no multiple hitters. Despite the loss, Paige Bryan struck out eight Oak Hill batters and walked none.