PARKERSBURG -- It turns out that the softball rubber match between Huntington High and St. Albans looked more like a Rubber Ducky Derby on Thursday afternoon at Jackson Park.

The game was suspended with Huntington ahead 5-1 and St. Albans batting with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning and a runner on second base.

"Both pitchers were having trouble gripping the ball," Huntington coach Darren Woody said. "I'd hate to see a game that important be continued under those circumstances for both teams."

Despite wet conditions throughout the contest, Huntington's offense consistently put runners on base and finally broke through with four runs in the top of the fifth inning against St. Albans hurler Elyse Boles to take a 5-1 lead before the game was suspended.

Huntington led 1-0 after Samantha Spurlock scored a run in the third inning following a single by Kiara Chappelle, but the Highlanders got to Boles early in the fifth.

After Huntington got a pair of runners in scoring position following two singles and a sacrifice, Trysten Gue broke the game open with a 235-foot opposite field home run to right-center field to give the Highlanders a 4-0 lead.

"We had two runners on so we knew what we needed to do," Gue said. "It felt good when I left the bat and when I looked up, it was gone. I was running down to first base and coach (Steve) Hall told me to slow down."

Chappelle followed with a double and stole third before an illegal pitch plated her to push the lead to 5-0.

Huntington pitcher Kayla Stinson still has a no-hitter intact, but St. Albans pushed a run across the board just before play was stopped. Kayli Carter reached on a walk, took second and third on a passed ball and scored on Lindsay Smith's fielder's choice to cut the lead to 5-1.

Gue said that despite the four-run lead, the Highlanders can't let down from the momentum built on Thursday.

"We have to play the game like it is still 0-0," Gue said.

The game is tentatively set to resume at Jackson Park in Vienna at 6:30 p.m. tonight, but if the game cannot be completed today, an alternate site between the two schools might be pursued for Saturday morning, tournament director Richard Lance said.