The Marshall County eight-year old All-Stars fell into the losers bracket of the Little League District 3 softball tournament after dropping a 10-9 decision to the Giles County Black team in the first round on Friday night at Richland Park.

Marshall County trailed 6-4 through the first five innings of play, but came storming back in the top of the sixth and pushed across five runs in the frame to seize a 9-6 lead.

Giles County then conjured up some late game magic of their own and tallied four runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim the dramatic victory.

Bolstered by their late offensive surge, Marshall County pounded out 12 hits overall to go along with two Giles County errors. Addison Bunty notched three hits to lead Marshall County at the plate, while Maddie Yeager and Brianna Brown each added two hits. Taylor Pickle, Reese Worthington, Braylin Powers, Aniyah Fisher, and Kaniyah Taylor chipped in one hit apiece for Marshall County as well.

Giles County, meanwhile, finished with 15 hits in the contest. Katie Garner, Vallee Brewer, Bella Birdsong, Melia Roberts, and Kristen Garner each recorded two hits to pace Giles County offensively.

Marshall County grabbed an early 1-0 lead by plating a run in the top of the first inning on a leadoff single by Bunty and an error.

After Giles County scored a run in the bottom of the first to knot the contest at 1-1, Marshall County tallied a run in the top of the sixth on hits from Worthington, Fisher, and Taylor to pull back ahead 2-1.

Giles County retied the game at 2-2 by pushing across a run in the bottom of the second thanks to a pair of hits from Brewer and Roberts.

Marshall County then plated two runs in the top of the fourth with the help of hits from Yeager and Brown to take a 4-2 lead, but Giles County responded with four runs in the bottom half of the frame to claim a 6-4 advantage.

Following a scoreless fifth inning, Marshall County saw their bats catch fire in the top of the sixth and crossed home plate five times in the frame on the strength of a leadoff single by Bunty, a Pickle RBI single, a RBI single by Yeager, a Brown infield single, a two-run single by Powers, and two errors to forge a 9-6 lead.

Giles County, however, saved their best for last and pushed across four runs in the bottom of the sixth behind a RBI double by Lyndsey Owen, a Katie Garner two-run single, and a two-out RBI single by Birdsong to take home the 10-9 victory.