CENTERVILLE — With two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning Wednesday, Centerville took a 3-1 lead and then thwarted a Northmont rally in the top of the sixth to hang on for a 3-2 victory.

Centerville improved to 7-3 overall and 5-3 in conference play while Northmont dropped to 10-5 and 4-3.

Riley Bakan led off the bottom of the fifth for Centerville with a single to right field. At that point Northmont lifted relief pitcher Jadyn Johnson with starting pitcher Zoey Hodge returning to the circle. Hodge struck out Chloe Jett.

With one out, Jenna Kirkpatrick reached base on a bunt with Bakan advancing to third. Hodge got Ardyn Hopf to fly out to right. Chayse Adkins reached on an infield hit with Bakan scoring. Adkins also scored on the throw to first. The inning ended with a fly ball to right.

Sydney Strickland led off the top of the sixth for the Lady Bolts with a single through the left side of the infield. She advanced to second when Cardie McCormick grounded out to third.

At that point Centerville lifted starting pitcher Ashley Arnold with little sister Hayley Arnold coming on in relief. Hayley got Northmont cleanup hitter Zoey Hodge to ground out to third. Strickland advanced to third on the throw to first.

Sam McGilton legged out an infield hit to score Strickland. Arnold struck out Morgan Pendleton to end the threat.

Ally Middleton stroked a one out single up the middle to start the home half of the sixth with Peyton Kennard coming in to pinch-run. Kennard got thrown out by McGilton on an attempted steal. Hayley Arnold lined out to center to end the inning.

Jadyn Johnson led off the top of the seventh with a single to right center. Lacie Knick hit a ground ball to Centerville’s shortstop who stepped on second for the force out. Shelby Shingler struck out and Emily Bole hit a fly to right field to end the game.

“The game of softball is about timely hitting,” said Northmont coach Kris Mangen. “Whether it be hits or errors or walks or hit batters, we just came up on the losing end. We played better this time than we did the last time we faced Centerville, but it was disappointing.

“I thought the girls did well, but like you said, timely hitting wasn’t in our favor today,” Mangen added.

She lifted Hodge after three innings with Johnson coming in to pitch the fourth inning, which was pre-planned.

“We had a plan before the game that we wanted them to see different pitches,” Mangen said. “Once we faced the top of their order again we didn’t want them to see Zoey again, so we thought we would throw their timing off by bringing Jadyn in, plus she is a leftie. Then we brought Zoey back in to try to keep them on their toes a little bit more.”

Centerville got its first run in the bottom of the fourth. Hayley Arnold hit a one out double to deep left field and reached third on the throw to the infield. She scored on a wild pitch to the next batter.

Northmont answered with a run in the top of the fifth. Morgan Pendleton hit a leadoff single through the left side of the infield. Johnson was the next batter and belted a double to left center to bring Pendleton home.

Reach Ron Nunnari at [email protected].