SULPHUR – The 10th-ranked Sulphur Tors have lived and died by the home run this season. And they needed some big ones to get out of the first round of the Non-select Division I playoffs on Friday at North Frasch Park.

The Tors hit four home runs to beat No. 23 Northshore 16-6 in six innings.

The Tors (18-12) have hit 52 home runs this season and are 14-2 when they hit multiple home runs.

After some early back-and-forth, the game was tied 2-2 after two innings until the Tors (18-12) broke out the big bats. Freshman nine-hole hitter Aubree Thomson was the first to strike with a two-run home run off the light pole in right-center field for the lead. Two batters later, Anna Hays hit the team’s 50th home run of the season to give the Tors a four-run lead.

“It was very crucial timing right there,” Sulphur head coach Brooke David said. “Northshore caps off to them. They played a great game.

“They had a lot of speed on the base path, but I think we did a good job with their pitcher and sticking to our approach, which gave us some home runs.”

The Panthers (18-15) tried to pitch around the Tors’ top power hitter, Pressy White. They gave her a pair of free passes in her first two at-bats. But she waited patiently for her chance and smashed her team-leading 17th and 18th home runs in her final two at-bats. She hit a three-run shot to put Sulphur up 12-6 in the fifth inning and hit a walk-off three-run shot with two outs in the sixth inning.

“She is our tone-setter. She was just patient all night. When they decided to pitch to her, she took advantage of it. You could tell she was really in her zone.”

Sulphur advanced to the regional round, where they will play No. 7 Walker (20-8). The Wildcats beat No. 26 Barbe (16-17) 16-3 on Friday. It is the third consecutive season that the Tors have won a first-round playoff game and are looking for their first regional win since 2007.

“We really just need to play our game,” David said. “If we can do that and not press, we will be fine.”

It wasn’t all moon shots for the Tors as they were in a tough spot early with the possibility of a deficit after the first inning. But Maliyah Navarre delivered with a two-out double to score Brianna Hoon and White, who slid around catcher Addie Day for the go-ahead run.

The Panthers (18-15) took advantage of a couple of errors to score four runs in the top of the fourth inning and cut Sulphur’s lead to 8-6.

Claire Mellard picked up the win in the circle for the Tors. In three and two-thirds innings, she allowed six runs, two earned, on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks. White pitched two and one-third scoreless innings to close out the game.