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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County Wildcats faced some big tests on the opening weekend of the season down in Mobile at the Hank Aaron Classic, beating UMS-Wright 3-1 before losing 9-3 to Bayside Academy and 8-5 to Daphne.

However, they got back above .500 thanks to wins in their first two home games at Shelby County High School, a 15-5 win over the North Sand Mountain Bison on Monday, Feb. 17 and a 10-4 win over the Jemison Panthers on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

In the first game of the week against North Sand Mountain, the Bison got on the board early after loading up the bases in the top of the first. Runs off a passed ball and a fly-out put the visitors up 2-0, but Shelby County responded in the bottom of the inning.

With two on and one out, the Wildcats benefitted from a passed ball and an error on back-to-back plays to tie the game at 2-2. While the next batter struck out, Andrew Knight hit an RBI single to give his team the lead at the end of the first.

After a one-two-three top of the second, a single and a walk to start the bottom of the inning opened the door for Cooper Pennington to hit an RBI double and extend the lead to 4-2. Hunter King followed it up with an RBI single on the next pitch to make it 5-2.

The next two batters got out, but Skylar Smith hit an RBI single on the first pitch he saw and put his team up 6-2.

However, the Bison surged back in the top of the third with two runs off errors and another off an RBI single, slashing the deficit to 6-5.

Shelby County needed to wait until the bottom of the fourth to respond but did so emphatically. The Wildcats benefitted from a bases-loaded walk and three-straight run-scoring errors to extend the lead to 11-5.

Two batters later with runners on the corners, a Pennington RBI groundout and Hunter Dailey RBI single took the lead to 13-5. A passed ball during the final at-bat of the inning took Shelby County on the cusp of the run rule with a 14-5 lead.

The Wildcats got a chance to finish the job without even recording an out in the fifth. Back-to-back walks and a AJ Pickett single loaded up the bases ahead of Shepherd Grayson’s walk, which sealed the 15-5 win in five innings.

In addition to earning the win on the mound with four strikeouts in three innings, King went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run. Smith also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run.

The next day against Jemison, both the Wildcats and Panthers got off to a hot start.

With two on in the top of the first, Jemison plated both runs with a two-out RBI single. A single and a walk loaded the bases and allowed the third run of the inning to score off a passed ball.

However, Shelby County responded to the 3-0 deficit after Colby Matherson scored off a Pennington RBI single. Two batters later, Cale Blevins brought Pennington home off an RBI double to cut the deficit to one.

A Smith single then put runners on the corners and allowed Blevins to steal home during the next at bat to tie the game at 3-3.

Neither team scored until the bottom of the third when Shelby County capitalized on two runners and one out to score on a passed ball and sacrifice fly during the same at-bat.

The Wildcats would not relinquish their 5-3 lead from then on. The Panthers got back within one off an RBI triple in the top of the fifth, but a passed ball and a Smith RBI single increased the lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the frame.

Shelby County added one more run off a Campbell Aderholt groundout while pinch hitting. The Wildcats then finished off the win with a Blevins RBI single and another run off an error in the bottom of the sixth.

Blevins and Smith each went 2-for-3 as Blevins had two RBI and two runs while Smith earned two runs and an RBI.

While Shelby County used five pitchers in the game, Dailey secured the win with three perfect innings from the second to the fourth while securing three strikeouts.

The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 22 for a home doubleheader against East Limestone at 11 a.m. and Westbrook Christian at 4 p.m.