After a pitching duel to open the baseball season, the Thorsby bats came alive during a 14-2 victory on the road against Isabella on Feb. 23.

It was the second-straight win over a county opponent for the Rebels, who began the season by defeating Jemison.

Thorsby jumped out to a 4-1 lead following a grand slam from Tanner Jones in the second inning.

The Rebels blew the game wide open with three runs in both the third and fourth innings en route to the comfortable victory.

Despite the success, Thorsby head coach Billy Jackson knows that it is still early in the season, and the Rebels are continuing to fine tune with every game played.

“We’ve kind of fluctuated with our approach at the plate,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to have a consistent approach at the plate. You don’t ever have a safe lead, because all it takes is one or two plays here or there.”

Thorsby found success at the plate up and down the batting order and racked up 15 hits in the game, including six for extra bases.

Tyler Jackson went 4-for-5 on the night, and Jacob Lockhart reached base all four times he stepped up to the plate for the Rebels.

“I got zoned in,” Tyler Jackson said. “It helps the confidence when we feel like we can swing it with anybody.”

Backing up the offensive output was the performance on the mound from Cain Niece, who pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs and struck out eight batters.

“Through the third inning he had only thrown 38 pitches,” Billy Jackson said. “That’s as solid as a job as you can do.”

Isabella led 1-0 at the end of the first inning after a leadoff base hit by Tyler Durham who later came around to score.

Two games into the season the Rebels have won games with pitching and hitting, a dangerous combination for any future opponents on the Rebels schedule.

“When you can keep the momentum going over different games, that’s when it gets fun,” Tyler Jackson said.