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The Ariton Lady Purple Cats hosted the first round of the Class 2A, Area 3 Tournament on Tuesday.

Ariton pulled off a dominant 11-1 win over Elba in the first round, while GW Long bested Zion Chapel by a score of 16-1 in the other first round matchup.

Ariton earned 12 hits and four walks in 26 at bats against Elba. Kaydee Phillips went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs, while Reese Peters went 2-for-3 with a run and Reagan Tomlin went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Paige Logan pitched all six innings and retired five batters, while giving up five hits and one earned run.

Zion Chapel struggled to contain Long’s explosive offense in the first round loss, allowing 16 runs in just four innings. At the plate, Kaylen McAllister went 2-for-2 for Zion Chapel, while Kaylee Hodge scored the lone run. Sydney Booth pitched three and 2/3 innings and gave up 17 hits and 16 earned runs in the circle.

In an elimination game, Zion Chapel knocked off Elba later on Tuesday by a score of 5-1. With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Zion Chapel scored three runs to take control of the game and never looked back.

Bannin went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs against Elba, while Emily Rhodes went 2-for-3 with a run. Bannin pitched all seven innings and mowed down 11 Elba batters, while giving up four hits and one earned run. Ariton also fell to Long 14-5 in the second round on Tuesday. Against Long, Hollis Cherry earned two hits against Long and Peters hit a three-run home run in the loss.

On May 5, Ariton and Zion Chapel will face off in an elimination game at 1 p.m. at Ariton with the winner playing Long in the Area 3 Championship later that day. Whoever plays Long with need to win two straight games to win the area, however.