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After a tough loss to Russell County on Wednesday, the Valley baseball team scored early and often in their 19-5 win against Beulah on Friday.

“We’re just trying to be aggressive. We knew that we were going to have to wait back because we just saw a lot of velocity from Russell County,” Valley head coach Patrick Shivers said. “I was worried that our guys would be out on the front side, but we waited back and drove a lot of balls early.”

The Rams jumped on Beulah from the start of the game, as Eli Culpepper singled on the fifth pitch of the game. Two pitches later, Culpepper reached third as he advanced to second on a wild pitch and stole third. He scored on a Bobcat error. The error also allowed shortstop Will Kennedy to reach second. He scored on a single by eighth-grader Jackson Sanders.

The Rams added two more runs two batters later when third baseman Hunter Meddows doubled to right field. Valley added its fifth and final run of the inning on a ground out to the shortstop.

The Bobcats put two runners on in the bottom of the first, reaching on a single and a dropped third strike, but they weren’t able to capitalize in the inning.

Valley added a pair of runs in the second inning. The first scored when Sanders tripled to right field, scoring Kennedy from first. Sanders later scored on an error.

In the bottom of the second, the Bobcats were able to put a pair of runners on base but failed to score again.

The Rams opened the game up in the top of the fourth, as they were able to tack on fiver runs, giving them a 12-0 lead heading to the bottom of the frame. Three of the four runs were scored from bases-loaded walks.

Beulah answered in the bottom of the fourth.

The Bobcats loaded the bases off a walk, hit-by-pitch and an error. Leadoff man Andruw Coxwell drilled the first pitch he saw over the scoreboard in left field for a grand slam, cutting the Bobcats’ deficit to eight.

“We didn’t have much going before that, and we knew that if we could get the bats going, we’d stay in the game,” Beulah head coach Michael Courson said. “He sparked something and we were able to put some stuff together.”

The home run ended Valley starter George Chambley’s day. He threw 79 pitches in his 3 ⅓ innings. He struck out six Bobcats.

“I thought he did okay early mixing his pitches,” Shivers said. “It just looked like he got tired early today, this is only his second outing of the year so I think that had a little bit to do with it.”

Three straight errors by the Rams added the fifth and final run of the inning.

“We had five walks and four errors, and that’s not winning baseball,” Shivers said. “We have to make routine plays.”

Valley added to its lead in the top of the sixth when Culpepper drilled a line drive down the left-field line for a double.

Valley opened the game up in the top of the seventh, scoring six runs. It started the inning by loading the bases. Catcher Will Bush drove in a pair of Rams when he doubled to left field. Culpepper and Kennedy added hits in the inning, driving in the final three runs of the game.

Five Rams finished with multiple hits. Culpepper finished 3-for-5 at the plate and drove in four runs. Beulah shortstop Kaleb Abney finished 3-for-4, while Coxwell finished 1-for-4 with 4 RBIs.