On Tuesday at the McKenzie Pond Road softball fields, one semifinal matchup ended and another continued.

The Rusty Nail, this year’s regular season champion, wrapped up its semifinal run with a 2-0 sweep by defeating MVC 10-4. In two games played in as many days, the Rusty Nail outscored MVC 20-6 to earn a spot in the finals where it will look to defend its league title.

Meanwhile, Bitters and Bones tied its best-of-three series at 1-1 on Tuesday with a nail-biting 5-4 victory over Romano’s. Bitters and Bones jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Trever Stanton blasted an RBI triple to score lead-off hitter Brandon Phelps, who singled to open the game.

The contest stayed tight until the top of the fifth, when Bitters and Bones tacked on four more runs, including three that came off a home run by Codey LaPage.

Romano’s shortstop Tristin Fitzgerald fires the ball to first base for an out during Tuesday’s game against Bitters and Bones. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Trailing 5-0, Romano’s responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame to cut its deficit to 5-4. But the game stayed scoreless during the final two innings as Bitters and Bones eked out the victory to force tonight’s deciding game, which is slated to start at 6:15 p.m.