An early lead by the East Limestone Indians wasn’t enough to curtail the high powered offense of the West Limestone Wildcats who earned a 12-3 victory Saturday at East Limestone High School. This game followed another blowout win Friday by West against the Elkmont Red Devils by a final score of 18-4 at Charger Park at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

East got on the board first after a leadoff single by Jojo Thallas off of West’s starting pitcher Ryan Britt. Barrett Brown drove in Thallas on an RBI groundout with one out in the bottom half of the inning, giving East a quick 1-0 advantage.

In the top half of the third, things really began to take shape for the Wildcats. Colin Patterson led off the inning with a double to center field. Britt walked after a Cooper Phillips ground out putting two on with only one out. Patterson scored on a wild pitch in Brody White’s at-bat, and White would go on to single to left field, advancing the pinch runner Keegan Laxson to second. Lawson replaced Britt on the base pads. A single by Braxton Griffin in the next at-bat loaded the bases with only one out. West’s River Helms grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Laxson to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game. The Wildcats eighth and ninth batters in the lineup would come through with a Devin Carter RBI single and a two-run double by Ian Burroughs to bring their lead to 5-1.

East added two in the bottom of the third . Randael Kelley walked and scored on an RBI double by Ty Scott who came around to score on a throwing error in Connor Philips at-bat.

West added four runs in the fourth. Britt, White and Griffin each reached base on two consecutive singles and a hit by pitch giving Helms is second at-bat with the bases loaded. He was able to notch an RBI on a groundout in his last plate appearance, and this at-bat was even more successful, driving in two runs on a single to center. Carter, who had an RBI single in his first at-bat, also came through with a two run double to left field, giving the Wildcats a 9-3 lead.

The Wildcats added three more runs in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Cooper Phillips and a two-run single by White, increasing their lead to nine and ultimately winning 12-3.

“Offensively, the top of the order struggled a little bit, but the bottom of the order picked them up,” West head coach Ryan Griffin said. “We have had games where we have done it both ways where the top of the order gets it done and the bottom of the order struggles and then it has been the other way. Today was one of those days.”

West used three pitchers in the game. Britt’s final line was 2.2 innings, four hits allowed, three runs, three walks and one strikeout. He was relieved by Braxton Griffin, who went 3.1 innings, only allowing one hit, one walk and four strikeouts. Logan Martin closed it out for the Wildcats, getting the final three outs in order with one strikeout.

“We wanted to get some guys some work on the mound as we get ready for Brooks next week,” Griffin said. “I thought our pitchers threw well. Britt struggled at the beginning, but he settled in. Braxton came in there and did his thing, and Martin has been good out of the bullpen all year.”

The Wildcats finished with 17 hits. White led the team with four, Grffin and Carter each had three, while Helms and Patterson were not far behind with two. Cooper Phillips, Britt and Burroughs each had one hit apiece.

Helms and Carter each added three RBIs. Burroughs, had two RBIs. Cooper Phillips and White each had one RBI.

Scott and Connor Phillips each had two hits for East while Thallas had one. Brown and Scott had one RBI. The third run for East was unearned.

West now holds an overall record of 19-5.