VESTAVIA HILLS - All four Cherokee County area softball teams playing in the North Central Regional still have hopes of advancing to next week's state tournament in Montgomery.

Spring Garden (20-6) and Sand Rock (16-7) wasted little time in their opening-round games on Friday.

In Class 1A action, Spring Garden defeated Appalachian 11-0 in five innings. The Lady Panthers are now set to play Ragland in the winners bracket on Saturday at 8 a.m.

Sand Rock scored 13 runs in the first inning and went on to defeat Vincent 17-1 in five innings. The Lady Wildcats will now tangle with Oakman in the Class 2A winners bracket on Saturday at 8 a.m.

Cherokee County (32-8-1) lost its opening-round matchup with Cleburne County on Friday. The Lady Warriors battled back to defeat Locust Fork 6-1 in the Class 4A losers bracket. They will now face the loser of the Alexandria-Saks game on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Collinsville (20-14) also lost its first-round game to Lamar County, 8-2. The Lady Panthers rebounded to take a 10-0 win over Jacksonville Christian in the Class 1A losers bracket. Collinsville will now face the loser of Spring Garden and Ragland on Saturday at 11 a.m.

For more on the North Central Regional Softball Tournament, see next week's Cherokee Herald.