SAEGERTOWN — French Creek Valley American entered the District 1 9 & 10 softball championship with the upper hand. Cochranton, however, had the wild cards.

With its ace on the mound and an offense that came alive with an 11-run performance on Friday, Cochranton took advantage of every break to force the if-necessary game with a 12-3 win Saturday at Bertram Park. The two teams will square off again on Monday in Cochranton. The winner-takes-all game is scheduled for 6 p.m.

“A big win,” said Cochranton coach Scott Wyant. “A very big win for us, because a loss and we were done.”

The difference in the game was three-fold

Cochranton got outstanding pitching from Brittany Jackson. The defense behind Jackson was nearly flawless, making just one error. And the visiting team also performed in the clutch.

“We got big hits when we needed them,” said Wyant. “And when they made mistakes, we were able to take advantage of them. And we ran the bases well.”

The game swung in Cochranton’s favor early.

Up 1-0 after an inning, Cochranton took advantage of four hits and two errors to score four runs. Jackson started the rally with a one-out single. After a pair of stolen bases, Abby Clulow drove her home with a two-out single to center. Sam Kinter followed with a single to put runners on the corners.

Katy Dunn followed with a ball back to the pitcher. The throw to first was off line and went into foul territory, scoring Clulow and Kinter. Makala Wyant capped the scoring with an RBI single to give Cochranton a 5-0 lead.

“This helps them a lot (for Monday),” said Wyant. “A real confidence boost.”

FCVA tried to make a comeback.

McKenzie Gregory smacked a two-run single in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 5-2. An inning later, Jessica Tomizcek made it 5-3 with an RBI groundout to score leadoff hitter Maile Chang. But that is as close as the Saegertown squad got.

Cochranton countered in the top of the fourth with three runs. Clulow and Kinter each had an RBI single in the frame to spark the rally.

In the fifth, Kassidy Dickson and Jackson opened with walks. After a strikeout and two errors scored a pair, Kinter again struck gold with an RBI double. Kinter later scored the final run of the game.

“(Cochranton) came to hit and we didn’t hit,” said FCVA coach Trisha Offi. “They hit it where the holes were at. (Cochranton) came to play, and we did too, but they got the hits and we didn’t.”