A hearty crowd turned out for some early morning summer baseball on Friday, as the Peach Classic Baseball Tournament continued with its second day of games at Clanton City Park.

The Thorsby Rebels scored eight unanswered runs to defeat the Benjamin Russell High School Wildcats 8-3.

Falling behind three runs in the second inning after a BRHS RBI single, the Rebels relied on Tanner Bush for a quick pick-me-up. Bush drove in one run, and another Thorsby player reached home on a throwing error, bringing the deficit to one run.

After THS’s Stewart Scott reached first on a blooper single, Matt Morgan brought him home with his own single, tying the game.

With victory in sight, the Rebels didn’t let up after that.

Blake Elkins ripped an RBI double, scoring Andrew Farris and Brantley Maddox for a two-run lead at 5-3 in the third inning. Adding another run was Elkins on another Bush single.

BRHS opted to change pitchers, but Thorsby wasn’t done with the onslaught. Wesley Smitherman smacked a two-run double, bringing home Farris and Bo Hoffman.

Cody Carroll started the game and picked up the win, as relief pitcher Stephen Mims entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed no runs.

Thorsby then played Holtville High School, whose players sat under the City Park shade to watch their next opponent’s victory.

THS coach Ab Argent is pleased with what he’s seen so far this summer, coming off of a victorious doubleheader at Isabella High School last week. With five seniors graduating two weeks ago, they’ve begun rebuilding the varsity baseball team. But Argent thinks the summer games will build skills and character as they make their transition.

“We’ve got a good nucleus,” he said. “We want to play these games to see who can do what. It’s a really good level of competition for our kids.

“It’s just a good chance for us to compete close to home against good teams like Benjamin Russell and Holtville.”

Thorsby defeated Holtville 2-1 in seven innings to complete the Friday doubleheader. Shane Beam started the game while Brantley Maddox, Bo Hoffman and Tanner Bush finished in relief.