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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOMEWOOD – The Pelham Panthers may have struggled in their season-opening tournament at home, but they left little doubt in their first seven-inning game of the season as they surged their way to a dominant road victory.

Pelham defeated the Homewood Patriots 15-3 on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Homewood High School to get to 2-2 on the season.

The Panthers got on the board early with a Jordan Young RBI double in the top of the first and built off that with a big run in the top of the second.

Braylee Cain kicked off the second with a single before Reese Jones walked two batters later. Laini Stewart then loaded up the bases, with one out, allowing Taylor Howard to play small ball and bring Cain home off a sacrifice fly.

That brought Young back up in the order, and this time, she went yard with a big home run to center field to score three runs and make the lead 5-0.

While the third inning didn’t bring any offense, Stewart and Rebecca Roy followed Young’s lead and got the long ball going. Stewart sent a solo shot with one out in the inning for the sixth run of the game before a Young single and a hit batsman put two on for Roy.

Roy fouled on her first pitch but didn’t miss on the second, sending the ball to left for a three-run jack and a 9-0 lead in the top of the fourth.

Homewood got on the board in the bottom of the fourth though thanks to a double and an RBI ground out, but the 9-2 deficit was as close as the Patriots got to the lead.

Pelham wouldn’t score again until the top of the seventh when back-to-back singles from Briley Easton and Cain led to a hit by pitch from Eva Lee and loaded up the bases once again.

The Panthers took full advantage of the scoring opportunity, sending Easton home on the next play before Stewart plated another run off an RBI single and Howard’s sacrifice fly made it a 12-2 lead.

Homewood let Pelham continue to score from there, walking three straight batters to score two runs before an error finished off the scoring for the Panthers, who led 15-2.

The Patriots got one more run across home plate in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out RBI double, but they couldn’t close the gap any more than that as Pelham took the 15-3 win.

In addition to going 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk, four RBI and a run, Young took the complete-game win with 11 strikeouts against one earned run, three total runs, four hits and a walk.

Stewart also went 3-for-4 on offense with a walk, two RBI and three runs. Cain finished 2-for-4 with two runs while Roy’s three-run home run gave her three RBI on her lone hit of the day.

Pelham will look to keep its winning ways going on Thursday, Feb. 27 against the Chilton County Tigers on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m. at Pelham High School.