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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

FAIRHOPE – After opening its season with a loss against Daphne, the Shelby County Wildcats picked up three consecutive wins against Fairhope, Midfield and Minor for a 3-1 start to the 2023 baseball season.

In the season opener, Shelby County gained a 3-2 lead in the opening inning, but Daphne responded with six unanswered the rest of the way to claim an 8-3 win.

The Trojans gained the lead in the top of the third after scoring five runs, and never looked back from there en route to the win. 

Carter Sheehan, Logan Starnes and Austin Wilson all had one hit in the win, while Sheehan and Wilson joined Cooper Pennington with one RBI.

Shelby County picked up a bounce-back win later on in the day against Fairhope. The Wildcats scored a run in the bottom of the third and another during the bottom of the seventh for a 2-0 win.

Sheehan had another strong game with one hit and two RBIs, while Pennington added a hit and RBI as well. Micah Morris pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing four walks and three hits but no runs with three strikeouts. 

The Wildcats returned home to take on Midfield and Minor on Monday, Feb. 20, beating both teams in dominant fashion.

Shelby County faced Midfield first and scored eight runs in the bottom of the first and another six in the bottom of the second to take command.

The Wildcats had a 15-0 lead up until Midfield scored two runs in the top of the fourth. However, Shelby County scored four more runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 19-3 blowout victory.

Colby Matherson led the way with three hits and two RBIs in the win, while the Wildcats totaled 11 hits. AJ Pickett, Ethan Hall and Alex Gillum all joined Matherson with two RBIs in the win.

Davis Ruston pitched four innings on the mound and struck out 10 while allowing no hits. He gave up two runs on five walks.

It was deja vu for the Wildcats as they picked up another blowout win against Minor 14-4. Shelby County scored three runs in the first, four runs in the second and another four in the third.

The Wildcats went on to pull away for the 10-run win with three more runs in the fourth inning. 

Austin Wilson led the way with two hits and four RBIs, while Noah Reed added two hits and two RBIs. Sheehan and Pennington both finished with two more hits and one RBI apiece. 

Shelby County travels to Cullman on Saturday, Feb. 25.