Elks Lodge No. 167 may have struggled through a difficult 9-10-year-old Dixie Youth Baseball season thus far, but things may have finally turned around.

With the possibility of postseason play looming on the horizon, the pieces came together Saturday for the Elks Lodge in a 13-5 victory over Ross Plumbing at the Sportsplex.

In their victory, Elks Lodge showed an offensive that had not been there early in the season. The Elks Lodge defense also made some sparkling plays, including a game-ending double play in the top of the sixth inning.

“We’ve improved a whole lot this season,” Elks Lodge head coach Rodney Houser said. “The first part of the season was pretty shaky. We’ve been winning pretty good lately.”

The nine-run margin also raised the Elks Lodge playoff hopes. The Elks could reach the postseason tournament if they win their remaining three games.

The Elks Lodge defense showed itself in the opening frame in the form of two fielder’s choice plays that helped keep Ross Plumbing off the board in the first.

Elks Lodge got its offense started in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Darrius Hawkins and Damarquis Lumpkin singled. D.J. Woods hit a smash that was mishandled by the Ross Pluming infield, allowing Hawkins to score. Devonte Haynes followed with a single to left field that plated Lumpkin for a 2-0 Elks lead.

Ross Plumbing tied the game in the top of the second inning when Deantrae Savage singled and, one out later, Jermarque Clay slashed a single to left field. Timothy Coleman then smashed a two-run double to center field.

Elks Lodge stretched its lead to 6-2 in the second inning, highlighted by run-scoring singles by Hawkins and Rodney Houser Jr.

The Elks lead went to 10-2 in the third on a two-run single by Jarmarkus Brown and an RBI single from Tydorian Gibbs. Brown scored the fourth run of the inning on a Ross Plumbing throwing error.

Elks shortstop Jeremy Blake took over from there in the third inning, coming up with two hard-hit grounders and snagging a pop-up. Blake also grabbed a fly ball on the outfield grass for the first out of the fourth inning.

Despite Blake’s solid play, Ross Plumbing tallied two runs in the fifth on a two-run triple by Calvin Boyd that scored Savage and Bobby Kennedy to make it 10-4.

Elks Lodge put the game away in the fifth, highlighted by RBI singles from Brown and Javante Furlow.

Ross Plumbing added its final run in the top of the sixth when Antonio Reeves reached on an error, went to third on a throwing error and scored on a single by Royderious Hardy.