Behind ace pitcher Cody Carroll and a stingy defense, Thorsby has been adept all season long at keeping runs off the scoreboard.

On Friday, the Rebels baseball team showed it also has an offense that can win games in the second season: the Class 2A state playoffs.

After hitting 14 home runs during the entire regular season, THS slugged half that amount in two wins (13-2 in five innings, and 6-1) over Reeltown.

“I thought we had swung it really well the past couple of weeks, but it’s one thing to do it in batting practice and another to do it against live pitching,” Thorsby coach Ab Argent said. “The ball was carrying, and we were seeing it good.”

With the wins, Thorsby advanced to the second round of the playoffs, where the Rebels will face the winner of the Isabella-Horseshoe Bend series.

The first homer of the day was off the bat of catcher Matt Morgan, who drove a towering shot over the fence in left-center field.

Carroll, in the second inning, did some damage with the bat instead of his arm, nailing a two-run home run that cleared the fence close to where Morgan’s went over.

Stephen Mims then made it back-to-back homers to give THS a 5-0 lead.

Thorsby No. 3 hitter in the lineup, Jace Maddox, walked to the plate in the fourth inning wanting an opportunity to show what he could do, after having been walked in the first inning and hit by a pitch in the second.

This time, Maddox got in on the home run act with a blast that also scored Morgan’s courtesy runner, Stuart Scott.

Just in case there was any doubt, Maddox ended the game early one inning later with a homer that scored Scott again and pushed Thorsby over the 10-run threshold necessary to invoke the mercy rule.

Maddox had Thorsby’s best day at the plate, hitting two home runs in two at-bats with four runs batted in and three runs scored.

Blake Elkins went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.

Bo Hoffman also hit a two-run homer, in the fourth inning. Hoffman’s homer scored Jason Price.

Carroll earned the win on the mound, allowing one run on five hits and one walk in four innings pitched while striking out five.

Morgan relieved Carroll and allowed one run on two hits in the fifth inning.

Price got in on the fun in Game 2, hitting a home run in the seventh inning to put the game away.

Mims pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and seven walks and striking out three.

Shane Beam relieved Mims and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Beam entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded. A deep fly ball scored Shelby Flurry, but the THS defense was able to get out another Reeltown baserunner to end the inning.

Price went 2-for-3 with two runs scored; and Hoffman went 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, one run scored and three RBI.