Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

REELTOWN – The Valley varsity baseball team continued their strong March with a hard fought 8-4 victory at Reeltown on Tuesday.

The Rams scored five runs in the first inning, and head coach Mike Meadows knew that was the key to winning.

“It was very big,” Meadows said.

“We came out swinging and got a few runs. We got a little cushion. That was big for us.”

The Rams came out firing as Cullen Kennedy opened things up with a double.

CJ Chambley followed up with a two-run double, and Trevor Rudd immediately hit an RBI single to give Valley a 3-0 lead in the first four at-bats.

Ashton Carter followed with a double, which led to Seth Hammock hitting a two RBI single to give the Rams a 5-0 lead.

Chambley started on the mound for the Rams and had a mixed inning.

Chambley had a strikeout but allowed two hits and a run in the first.

Valley’s offense continued rolling in the second with an RBI single from Kennedy to extend the lead to five.

Kennedy got on third base but a pop out ended the side for the Rams.

Chambley had a much better second inning with two strikeouts and no hits allowed.

The Rams scored another run in the third with Mason Yarbrough hitting a sacrifice grounder.

The Valley defense struggled in the third inning as Reeltown took advantage of a walk and two hits to cut the lead to 7-3.

Valley’s offense slowed down in the middle innings as the Rams went hitless in three at-bats in the fourth.

Meadows gave his thoughts on the midgame slump.

“We didn’t swing as well and made a couple mistakes in the field,” Meadows said.

“We got that spring break mode going on. It was a good win. It was good to get back to .500 on the year. We’re playing a little better ball.”

The Rebels were set up in scoring position in the fourth, but Ashton Carter and Carter Green forced a double play to keep the inning scoreless.

The Rams’ batting stayed cold in the fifth as Reeltown struck out the side.

Hammock took over on the mound in the fifth but got off to a slow start as the Rebels scored a run to cut the lead to 7-4.

Hammock ended the inning with two strikeouts and didn’t allow a run for the rest of the game.

Valley set the tone in the top of the seventh with a Hammock RBI single to extend the Rams lead to four.

Hammock and the Valley defense locked down in the seventh and closed out the win.

Meadows was pleased with the win but wants to see his team be less complacent when leading.

“When you’re up like that, you have to put somebody away,” Meadows said.

“We didn’t have any energy today.”