The Troy Ponytails advanced to the winner’s bracket of the sub-district tournament Friday night, defeating Ozark 8-2 in come from behind fashion.

Ozark held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third before the Troy bats came alive.

Troy struck for four runs in the third to take the lead for good.

Kristal Ross and Kayla Dendy had RBI singles, while Lexie Motes had a two-RBI single.

“Mainly, that’s just 12-year-old girls, said head coach Terry Motes. “When they decide they want to play, they can play. So, until they decide they want to play, you just kind of have to deal with them.”

From there, Troy turned it over to its deep pitching staff, which held Ozark scoreless the rest of the way.

Amanda Finlayson and Motes pitched the final four innings, giving up no runs and just one hit while striking out 7 batters.

Troy used three pitchers in the game, each pitching two innings, which sets up the Troy staff well for the rest of the tournament as far as pitching inning limitations are concerned.

“What it does is it leaves us with three pitchers who still have 14 innings left to throw in the tournament,” Motes said. “Plus, we have one pitcher who didn’t pick up a ball, so we’re in good shape as far as pitching goes.”

Troy added two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings when Ross had a two-RBI single in the fourth and the Trojans got two unearned in the fifth.

Ozark’s only two runs came in the top of the second, when Faith Nance hit a two-RBI double.

Troy was led by Ross, who was 2-2 with three RBIs. Motes added two RBIs on a 2-3 day at the plate, while Meredith Motes also went 2-3 with an RBI.

Now, Troy will enjoy a bye Saturday before returning to action Monday in the final winner’s bracket game against Saturday’s winner of a game between Eufaula and Dothan National.

“They just need to get their rest,” Motes said. “They don’t need to get too excited, and they don’t need to do any swimming, and hopefully they’ll be ready to play ball Monday.”