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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County Wildcats are still perfect on the season after cruising to a 17-2 victory over the Pinson Valley Indians on Thursday, Feb. 22.

With the win, the Wildcats are now 5-0 on the year ahead of a big matchup with Class 7A Oak Mountain on Friday, Feb. 23.

After allowing no hits in the top of the first inning, Shelby County got to work in the bottom of the frame with four innings.

The Wildcats loaded the bases in the first four at-bats with two walks and a hit by pitch. Nathan Owen then kicked off the scoring with a two-run RBI single to make the score 2-0.

An RBI sacrifice fly by Micah Morris increased the lead to 3-0 and Cale Blevins hit an RBI single to center to score Owen and end the inning with a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the second, Pinson Valley responded by earning a pair of hits. After a Shelby County error, a pair of runners scored to cut the lead to two.

That 4-2 score-line wouldn’t hold for long as Gannon Pharr reached base on an error to start the bottom of the inning and Samuel Carter brought him home two batters later with an RBI groundout.

While there were two outs in the inning, the Wildcats loaded up the bases with two walks and a single to bring up Blevins. He drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 6-2.

The Indians earned a pair of outs to start the bottom of the third, but the mistakes continued as a dropped third strike and three straight walks led to a seventh run.

That left Shelby County with a 7-2 lead going into the fourth inning. While the Wildcats needed five runs to trigger the run rule, they got 10 in the bottom of the frame to wrap up the victory.

With runners on the corners and one out, Pharr singled to center to score another run and a Colby Matherson walk made the lead 9-2.

After another walk, Cooper Pennington hit an RBI single to kick off six straight scoring plays. Owen drew a bases-loaded walk for the 11th run, Morris hit a single for his second RBI of the day to put the Wildcats in run rule territory and Blevins earned his second RBI single of the day.

Then, with the bases still loaded, Amare Pickett hit a bases-clearing triple to drive in three more runs and make the score 16-2. Ben Gann scored the final run of the day on an RBI groundout to close out the 15-run win.

Tucker Busby walked away with the win after pitching for four innings without giving up an earned run. He earned six strikeouts against three hits.

Shelby County will look to keep its perfect season alive against the Oak Mountain Eagles on the road on Friday, Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m.