In the first game of the Region V-North Softball Tournament Thursday morning, No. 4 seed North Central Texas College defeated No. 5 seed Weatherford College 4-3. The double-elimination tournament is taking place at Grayson College in Denison.
Both teams used home runs to bolster their offenses. A solo shot by Tori Thompson gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, but another homer by Annie Allgood gave NCTC a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third, and Payton Blanco's solo shot pushed the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Weatherford's Jillian Franco went 2-for-3 with one run. Lindsey Oliver pitched six innings, giving up six hits, four earned runs and one walk while striking out seven.
The Coyotes will face No. 6 seed Cisco College in an elimination game Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. The entire tournament will be livestreamed for free viewing at www.centexsportsnetwork.com.