MOUNT VERNON — Home field advantage served Knox County teams well in the sectional softball tournament.
Mount Vernon, Fredericktown and Danville all won sectional championships on their home fields last week. The Yellow Jackets and Blue Devils will both open district play at home, while the Freddies will hit the road.
The ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets will host No. 10 Tri-Valley in a Division I district semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Mount Vernon advanced with a run rule-shortened 20-1 win over Columbus Hartley last week. Hailey Rudrick hits three home runs and knocked in eight in the victory.
Tri-Valley advanced with a 22-0 win over Westland.
The fourth-seeded Freddies will visit No. 3 Liberty Union for a Division III district final at 5 p.m. Monday. Fredericktown knocked off No. 14 Johnstown 3-2 in last week’s sectional final, while Liberty Union dispatched No. 17 Marion Elgin 12-2.
Top-seeded Danville will host No. 7 Ridgedale at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Division IV district semifinals. The Blue Devils exacted a measure of revenge with a 7-0 win over No. 2 Newark Catholic in last week’s sectional championship game. The Green Wave knocked Danville out of the tournament in the district final last spring.
Ridgedale punched its ticket to the district tournament with a 12-2 win over No. 5 Berne Union.