CARTERVILLE — The Carterville Lions continued their stellar season with a 10-1 win over Murphysboro in the first semifinal of the 2A sectional they are hosting.

The Lions jumped on top quickly as Kennedy Rushing’s RBI single scored Amayah Doyle for a 1-0 lead. Carterville then added five more runs in the second. After run scoring hits from Karson Caudill and Kayelyn Rice, Rushing delivered a two-run triple. She later scored on Maddie Rosenberry’s sacrifice fly for a 6-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Lions’ sophomore Lacie Carr was controlling the hard-hitting Red Devils. Murphysboro scored 17 runs in five innings to win the regional championship last week in Nashville. Carr limited the Red Devils to a run on three hits.

Carterville tacked on some insurance runs for the final margin of victory. With the win, the Lions improve to 33-2 and advance to Saturday morning’s championship game against either Pinckneyville or Mt. Carmel, who are scheduled to play Wednesday at 4:30.

The Red Devils finish the season 23-15.