By Brandon Sumrall/Special to the Advertiser

The Thorsby Rebels advance to round two of the AHSAA Class 2A state baseball playoffs after earning two wins over the Collinsville Panthers (4-3, 8-5) April 20.

An extra inning affair in Game One would go to the bottom half of the eighth inning before a Cain Niece walk off RBI double would give the home standing Rebels a 4-3 victory.

The Rebels would keep the bats hot to start Game Two, as a one-out single by Grayson Bice along with a walk by Tanner Jones would set up a pair of RBI singles by Chase Birchfield and Ricky Sorcia that would give Thorsby an early 2-0 lead.

A three up and three down bottom half of the first would lead to the Rebels tacking on one more in the top of the second on a Panthers’ error that allowed Jacob Lockhart to pass home plate extending the Thorsby lead to three.

Collinsville would answer with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the second thanks to a Thorsby error along with a RBI single by Garrett Skelton to make it a one-run lead for Thorsby after two innings of play.

Sorcia would start the third for Thorsby with a solo home run deep over the left field wall followed by a single from Tucker Patterson. A single by Niece would gave the Rebels a pair of baserunners with one out and set up a RBI single by Bice and a sacrifice fly by Jones that would make it a 6-2 Rebels lead.

A scoreless bottom half of the third would allow Thorsby to add to their lead in the top half of the fourth thanks to a one-out single by Birchfield that would lead to a two-out RBI single by Patterson that made it 7-2.

A three up and three down bottom half of the fourth for Collinsville, along with a scoreless fifth for Thorsby, would send the game to the bottom half of the fifth with Thorsby still leading 7-2.

A pair of Thorsby errors in the bottom half of the fifth would cost the Rebels a pair of runs, while a RBI single by Jacob Jones would cut the Thorsby lead to two at 7-5.

A scoreless sixth for both teams would give way to the top of the seventh, were the Rebels would tack on one more run thanks to a RBI single by Jones.

A pair of walks in the bottom of the seventh would see the game-tying run take first base, but a two-out strikeout by Rebels pitcher Jones would account for the third out while punching the Rebels’ ticket to round two.

Patterson got the start on the mound in Game Two and threw four and two-thirds innings while allowing no earned runs on five hits with one walk and four strikesouts. Birchfield led the Rebels at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance with four singles and a RBI.

Thorsby will play at Fayetteville April 27 beginning at 5 p.m.