MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County softball team split its two games in the Super Regional at East Coweta on Monday, but still faces an uphill climb to reach the state tournament.

The Lady Packers were edged 4-2 by Parkview in their first game on Monday, but then eliminated McEachern 12-0 to remain alive.

But Colquitt would have to beat Parkview at 2 p.m. today and then knock off East Coweta twice to advance on Tuesday.

East Coweta, the Region 2 champion and ranked No. 2 in Class 7A, defeated McEachern 13-1 and Parkview 5-0 on Monday.

The survivor of the four-team mini-tournament will join seven other schools winning Super Regionals across the state in advancing to the eight-team Class 7A state tournament that will be held Oct. 25-28 at the Columbus Softball Complex.

The first three innings of the Colquitt County-Parkview game were scoreless before the Lady Panthers scored a single run in the top of the fourth.

But the Lady Packers answered in the bottom of the inning when Maris Hopper and Kaden Sutton singled and both scored on an error by Parkview pitcher Olivia Kotowski to put Colquitt up 2-1.

The lead did not survive the top of the fifth, however, when Aubrey Armstrong hit a two-out, three-run double to put Parkview ahead to stay.

Kotowski, who has committed to play her collegiate softball at South Carolina, allowed just four hits and the two unearned runs. She struck out 11 Lady Packers.

Hopper had two of those hits and Sutton and Libby Wetherington had the others.

Peyton Arrington, who started in the circle for the Lady Packers, had just the one damaging inning.

She gave up seven hits, three walks and four earned runs. She struck out nine.

Colquitt quickly took the field to play McEachern, which had just been pounded by East Coweta.

The Lady Packers added to the Lady Indians woes by scoring seven runs in the second inning and five more in the third in the game that was called when Colquitt led 12-0 after McEachern batted in the top of the fourth.

The victory was the 20th of the season for Colquitt County, marking the third straight season, and the fourth in the last five, that the Lady Packers have reached that milestone.

Freshman Lilah Thompson pitched all four innings against McEachern and gave up just a double to Cayley Windham and a single to Tami Chatwood.

She did not issue a base on balls and struck out four to raise her record to 7-2.

The Lady Packers pounded out 13 hits in their three at bats and five of them were for extra bases.

The seven-run second inning featured three-run homers by Hopper and Wetherington.

In the third, an RBI single by Arrington made it 8-0; a two-run double by Hopper stretched the lead to 10-0; and a two-run single by Montana Tatum closed out the scoring.

RaJayla McBride led the Lady Packers with three hits; Hopper and Lanie Burley each had two; Tatum, Wetherington, Arrington, Carli Pearson, Rhylee Tillery and Rheygan Harrell had the others.

The extra-base hits were the homers by Hopper and Wetherington and doubles by Hopper, Harrell and Burley.

Hopper’s homer was her sixth of the season; Wetherington’s was her second.

Hopper, who drove in five runs in the second game, now has 40 in her senior season.

She also went 2-for-3 in each game, raising her team-leading batting average to an even .500.