TROY, Mo. - A long Thursday of playoff softball began at 1 p.m. and finished just shy of midnight. Five games - four sectionals and one district championship - were contested on perhaps the only playable diamond in the region. It was wet and it was cold, but thanks to Troy athletic director Jason Smith and his volunteer staff, a bunch of games that needed to be played were completed.

Following is a quick rundown of the action....

Oakville 3, Seckman 0 - In the title game of the Class 4 District 3 tournament, the Tigers and Jaguars made the long trek from South County and got started at 10:30 p.m. When they finished at 11:50, the top-seeded Tigers were moving on.

With quarterfinals set for Saturday at the Ballwin Athletic Association, Oakville (20-5) was to play Hillsboro (24-4) Friday in sectional action.

The Tigers, who split a pair of regular-season games with Seckman (20-3), picked up an unearned run in the first and tacked on insurance tallies in the fifth and sixth.

After Oakville ace Remy Edwards pitched around a two-base error in the top of the first, the Tigers' Maggie Ruckenbrod drew a one-out walk and stole second. With two outs, the Jaguars booted a slow roller up the middle by Edwards and allowed the game's first run to score when the low throw slipped away from the first baseman.

Brittany Smith led off the Seckman second with a slicing double to left and moved up on a Kayla Taylor bunt. Edwards fanned the next two Jaguars, ending the threat.

Seckman's only other hit - a two-out single from Smith - came in the fourth and ended up as the game's last baserunner for the Jaguars, with Edwards setting down the final 10 hitters she faced.

Oakville's Lauren Fussell led off the fifth with a infield single and eventually scored on a two-out hit from Marissa Simon. In the Tiger sixth, Edwards doubled down the left-field line with one out. She took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Mackenzie Madigan groundout.

Zumwalt South 7, Hazelwood West 0 - In a Class 4 sectional game, the Bulldogs' Lexy Moore tossed a two-hitter and fanned 15, leading South (21-6) in the quarterfinals Saturday in Ballwin.

The Bulldogs took advantage of some weather issues in a three-run second, scoring two runs on wild pitches and a third on Moore's run-scoring double.

South picked up three more runs in the third. Kayla Lockwood led off with a double and scored on a one-out hit from Shelby Long. Following a Brittany Edelen bunt single, both runners came around on a double to right-center by Danielle Kahn.

South picked up another run in the fourth, but the game belonged to Moore. West (13-10) had a walk and a single in the first, but the junior righthander fanned the Wildcats' No. 4 and No. 5 hitters. In the fifth, after an error to open the inning, West's Erika Boyd double. But Moore escaped the second-and-third, no-out jam with a strikeout, a popup and another strikeout.

Belle 5, Orchard Farm 3 - In a Class 2 sectional game, the Eagles were up 3-2 and the bases loaded with no outs when Belle's Shanon Brandson struck out the side. Brandson would go on to retire the next 12 Eagles she faced as the Tigers (17-5) rallied for the win.

Brandson struck out 13 in the game, including the last seven Orchard Farm batters she saw.

The Eagles (19-5) scored on a Casey Ward infield single in the first, on a Kelsey Litteken triple and a passed ball in the second and on an error, a Hannah Dwiggins and a Ward fielders' choice in the third.

Belle got a two-run double from Mallory Hance in the first and on a Hance single and a Hayle Marguart infield out in the third. In the Tiger fifth, Shaya Kinsey doubled for her third hit of the game and eventually scored on a dropped fly ball.

Jefferson City 2, Troy 1 - The visiting Jays (21-1) were down 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the seventh when they rallied for the Class 4 sectional victory.
After Marsha Pendilton reached on a one-out infield hit, she went to third as Kara Steiner reached on a two-base error. After Erin Romph singled to tie it, she stole second. Following an intentional walk to load the bases, Brailee Schulte hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the winning run.
Troy (23-4) had taken the lead in the fourth, scoring on a two-out squeeze play.

Winfield 14, Trinity 7 - In Class 3 sectional play, the Warriors (20-7) were in control from the start, eliminating Trinity (12-10) for the second consecutive season. Winfield will play Kirksville (24-2) in Ballwin in a rematch of last year's quarterfinal won 3-2 in 12 innings by Kirksville. The Tigers went on to a fourth-place finish at state.

In a Thursday Class 3 sectional game played at Three River Community College in Poplar Bluff, Cape Notre Dame (27-2) scored early and late in a 13-4 victory over De Soto (13-14).

Notre Dame, the state runner-up to Platte County a year ago, will play the Affton/Kennedy winner in the quarterfinals Saturday at Ballwin.

The Bulldogs raced to a 6-1 lead Thursday, only to have De Soto cut the lead to 6-4 with three runs in the top of the fifth. But Notre Dame finished strong, tacking on three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth.

jlyons@post-dispatch.com/626-255-7205