BWS Sports

FLORIEN — For the first five innings, it was nip and tuck.

But the sixth inning was a totally different story.

The 11th-seeded Anacoco Indians scored 13 runs in the top of the sixth inning to put away the No. 19 Florien Blackcats on Saturday in the Class B quarterfinals, 16-3.

With the victory, the Indians advanced to the Class B state semifinals for a second straight year.

Anacoco took the initial lead of the game in the first inning and held a 2-0 lead after the top of the third. However, Florien was able to get the bats going in the bottom of the inning, pushing three runs across to take the lead for the first time, 3-2.

Anacoco responded by tying the game in the top of the fourth, 3-3.

After a quiet fifth inning, the Indians nearly batted around twice in the top of the sixth, scoring 13 times in the frame to open up an insurmountable lead, 16-3.

Reid Rodriguez did the rest, sitting down the Blackcat side in the bottom of the sixth to win by way of the mercy rule.

Rodriguez entered the game in the third inning for starter Chase Taylor. Rodriguez earned the win by going four innings, giving up or runs on one hit with four strikeouts. Taylor surrendered all three of the runs for the Blackcats.

Senior Dylan Fitzgerald was 3-for-4 with a double and five RBIs to lead the Indians at the plate, while Kaleb Goodwin had a double among his two hits, bringing in two RBIs. Landon Goodwin added a hit and two RBIs, while Kyle Scott had a pair of hits.

Gage Remedies suffered the loss for the Blackcats, giving up 11 runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.