Bishop Guertin's Steph Coloumbe slides home before Merrimack pitcher Avery Hui can apply the tag during the Tomahawks' 5-4 Divison I tourney win Wednesday in Merrimack.

MERRIMACK – Timing is everything, and the Merrimack High School softball team timed things perfectly on Wednesday.

Trailing 4-3 entering the fifth inning, the host Tomahawks tied the game with a run and then broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth on Morgan Goodspeed’s RBI double for a 5-4 Division I preliminary round tourney win over rival Bishop Guertin.

“I was just ready to hit the ball and have a great game,” Goodspeed said after her sharp hit just inside the line at third off BG reliever Bailey Doyle delivered Kaeley Smith from first with one out to break the 4-4 tie. “It was a super tight game, I knew it was going to be close. But this was a battle til the end, and I’m just glad we pulled through like I knew we would.”

As a result, the 15-4 Tomahawks will host Nashua South in a Division I quarterfinal/regional final Saturday afternoon, exact time tba.

“Goodspeed steps up in that high leverage position,” Merrimack coach Greg Cochrane said. “That’s what we expect, she’s a dynamic player. She doesn’t overthink things, just gets up there, sees the ball, hits the ball.”

The Cards had a shot in the seventh to tie it as Steph Coloumbe doubled with two out, but she slipped rounding second, thinking about perhaps stretching it into a triple, but was caught in a long rundown to end the game and the Cards’ season at 13-8.

“A slip of the foot, right? And that’s the game, and that’s why we love this game,” Guertin coach Leah Maciejewski said. “Anything can happen in the game of softball. And (Merrimack) gave us a great game today. … “I’m incredibly proud of how my girls worked.”

The Cards’ problem really was the fact Coloumbe’s hit snapped a streak of 12 straight retired by Tomahawks’ freshman pitcher Avery Hui, who checked BG on just three hits, striking out four and walking four.

“We’re very proud of Avery, she works incredibly hard,” Cochrane said. “The kid’s got composure as you’ve just seen. She struggled early, but she found her groove, gained her consistency and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

It was tight throughout. Guertin took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a walk, single and bases loaded fielder’s choice, the ‘Hawks minimizing the damage.

Merrimack then took a 3-1 lead off BG starter Meghan Davey in the bottom half of the inning on Grace Lawton’s RBI single and then two runs scored on a bizarre wild pitch play that included an errant throw.

However, Guertin got to Hui for three of their own in the third on a wild pitch and two-run single by Doyle for a 4-3 lead. Davey kept the ‘Hawks at bay until the bottom of the sixth when Ally O’Brien singled just under the outstretched glove of Cards shortstop Khyleigh Guerette with two out, scoring Lawton to make it 4-4.

And now the ‘Hawks take on an upstart South team it beat twice by a combined 30-1. But the Panthers lost two games to the team it eliminated yesterday, Alvirne, by a combined 33-1. Anything goes.

“We’re excited,” Cochrane said. “We want everybody to see that we’re for real, and we should be taken with the utmost respect not only in our region but in the entire division. we’re humble at the same time. We need to take every game seriously.”