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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOMEWOOD – The Pelham Panthers continued rolling with a big shutout win in their first road game of the season.

Pelham defeated the Homewood Patriots 9-0 on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at Homewood High School to improve to 3-0 on the young season.

The Panthers raced ahead to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and didn’t look back as they kept the Patriots bats quiet for the full seven innings.

Pelham loaded up the bases in the top of the first off a lead-off single and a pair of one-out walks. The visitors then benefited from a pair of errors to score two runs before a JP Anderson RBI single and a Jett Hopwood sacrifice fly made the lead 4-0.

Ryan Hurd struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, and the Panthers continued their momentum into the top half of the second.

A Braden Lee single followed by an error put two on with one out for Sam Tolbert. He singled on the first pitch he saw to make it 5-0, and Garin Fitts followed that up with another RBI single on the next pitch for the six-run lead.

Hurd worked around a lead-off single in the bottom of the second to get out unscathed as well as a hit batman and walk in the home half of the fourth.

Homewood allowed the base paths to fill in the top of the fifth thanks to a pair of hit batsmen and a walk. While the Patriots got a double play on the next batter, another walk loaded up the bases before Fitts was struck by a pitch, making the lead 7-0.

After a scoreless sixth, Pelham caught another break in the top of the seventh. Andrew Petrock got hit by a pitch before a dropped third strike put runners on the corners with no outs. A passed ball plated another run before an error during Dylan Smith’s at-bat finished the 9-0 win.

Tolbert was the lone Panther to finish with a multi-hit day as he went 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and a walk. Smith crossed home twice after walking twice and Fitts had two RBI in his 1-for-3 day.

Pelham’s game on Thursday, Feb. 20 against Hewitt-Trussville was canceled due to cold weather, but the Panthers will face Mountain Brook on the road on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m.