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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County Wildcats offense erupted on Saturday, April 5 as they put up a pair of dominant performances to sweep a non-area doubleheader with the Minor Tigers.

Shelby County defeated Minor 13-3 in game one and 17-3 in game two at Shelby County High School in a pair of five-inning victories.

However, it was the Tigers who started off the series in front, drawing three-straight walks in the top of the first ahead of an RBI ground out and a run off a passed ball for the 2-0 lead.

Shelby County responded in the bottom of the second, putting runners on the corners with one out ahead of a Colby Matherson RBI ground out to cut the deficit to 2-1. Nate Byrne tied the game up at 2-2 on the next pitch with an RBI single.

The next two batters reached freely before Byrne came home off an error at third. Skyler Smith then hit a two-run single to left to make it a 5-2 game. He would later steal home to cap off the six-run inning and increase the lead to 6-2.

Minor scored another run in the top of the third off a one-out RBI single, but that would be the last time it would score in the game.

After an Andrew Knight single and Ethan Hall double kicked off the bottom of the third, a Matherson fly out and a Byrne single on back-to-back plays took the lead to 8-2. The next three batters then reached freely, with the final one scoring on a bases-loaded walk.

Ruston followed it up with an RBI ground out to go up 10-3 ahead of the end of the inning.

After a scoreless fourth, Shelby County put away the win with a one-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. Singles from Cooper Pennington and Smith along with a Cale Blevins walk loaded up the bases ahead of a two-run double from Ruston.

Campbell Aderholt then sealed the victory with a run off a ground ball to second as the Wildcats took the 13-3 win.

Byrne finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs, Smith was 2-for-2 with two walks, three RBI and two runs and Hall went 2-for-3 with two runs. Ruston finished with three RBI and Matherson had two RBI.

In game two of the doubleheader, Pennington kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI double to take the 1-0 lead. Chaos ensued soon after when Pennington came home on a passed ball ahead of a run-scoring error at first.

While the Wildcats were reduced to two outs on the next play, Ryan Sipes hit an RBI single to resume the rally. Sutton Reed followed it up with an RBI single for the 5-0 lead, and he came home on a passed ball before the end of the inning to put Shelby County up 6-0.

After a scoreless second inning, a Presley Duke single and a pair of hit batters loaded up the bases for the Wildcats in the bottom of the third with one out. Blevins got a run to score on a fly out before Tucker Busby plated two runs with a single for the 9-0 lead.

Amare Pickett kept the rally going with a single, and Hunter Dailey made good on that opportunity with a two-run double to increase the lead to 11-0. Sipes then drew a walk ahead of the final scoring play of the inning, an RBI single from Reed that made it a 12-0 lead.

Shelby County finished off its scoring in the bottom of the fourth with RBI singles from Blevins and Amare Pickett, a run-scoring error at third base, an RBI ground out from Hunter Dailey and a Sipes sacrifice fly, taking the lead to 17-0.

Minor plated its first three runs of the game in the top of the fifth following a Wildcats pitching change, but the Tigers couldn’t close the gap to single digits, sealing the 17-3 win for Shelby County.

Pennington, Duke and Pickett each finished 2-for-3 as Pickett earned three runs and two RBI, Pennington secured three runs and an RBI and Duke earned a run. Reed was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run, Busby finished 1-for-1 with three walks, two RBI and two runs, Dailey secured three RBI and Sipes had two RBI.

Smith got the win with three scoreless innings to start, allowing just three hits and a walk.

Shelby County improved to 14-12 ahead of its final area series against the Sylacauga Aggies. After a postponement, game one will now be held on Wednesday, April 9 at 4:30 p.m. in Sylacauga ahead of the conclusion of the series on Thursday, April 10 at 4:30 p.m. at Shelby County High School.