The opening round of the District 13-AA softball tournament being held at Obion County High School was far from kind to the squads from DHS and DCHS.

In the first game of the afternoon Dyersburg faced Gibson County, dropping the contest 4-2. Immediately following the Lady Trojans contest, the Lady Choctaws fell to Crockett County, 3-1, as both squads failed to provide run support after stellar pitching performances from Dyersburg's Brandy Hamm and Dyer County's Paige French.

In the opening game of the tourney, the Lady Trojans took an early 1-0 lead over the Lady Pioneers in the first inning. Senior Alison Petty led off the contest with a bunt single and alertly advanced to second on the play with no one covering the bag.

After Emily Greer grounded out to move Petty to third, Stephanie Johnson sent a rope to left, plating Petty for the 1-0 advantage.

Gibson County answered in its half of the inning when Katie Davis doubled to deep left field with one aboard.

The Lady Trojans added one run in the fourth when Mary Jewels Baker doubled to score Courtney Sizemore to put Dyersburg on top, 2-1.

Though Hamm was very effective through five innings, the senior ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth, giving up one run before being removed in favor of fellow senior Jessica Smith with one out and the bases loaded.

With no room for error, Smith fanned Morgan Spelling before Paige Burress doubled to center, plating two and giving the Lady Pioneers a 4-2 lead, one the squad wouldn't relinquish as the Lady Trojans fell to the losers bracket with the loss.

"Well, we did it to ourselves again today and I really don't know what to say," said a disappointed Dyersburg head coach Doug French. "We just can't get the hits when we really need them and that was the difference today."

In the Lady Choctaw contest, while Paige French was making quick work of the Lady Cavalier lineup, Crockett County was wasting little time going through the Dyer County lineup as well.

With the game scoreless going to the third inning, Crockett County plated two runs thanks to a pair of defensive miscues to take a 2-0 lead.

All remained quiet until the bottom half of the sixth when it looked as though the Lady Choctaws had come to life.

Jessica Tickle led off the inning with a laser up the middle for a single and stole second before Kaitlyn Massie moved Tickle to third on a groundout. Olivia Hendren then stepped to the plate and stroked an RBI-single to center, trimming the deficit to 2-1. After Alexa Tyler reached on an infield single, Beth Fisher drove a Lady Pioneer offering to deep center only to have the shot caught to end the inning, and Dyer County's chances to knot the contest.

In the seventh, Crockett County added an insurance run in the top of the inning to lead 3-1. In the bottom half of the inning the Lady Choctaws threatened once more, only to watch their hopes dashed after a fine defensive play in left field.

With the losses, the stage is set for Dyersburg and Dyer County to meet today at 4 p.m. in a game where the winner lives to play another day while the loser's season will come to an end.