PLANTERSVILLE — A 12-run first inning set the tone for Dallas County in the opener of a doubleheader Friday against Southside. From there, the hits kept coming and so did the strikeouts from pitcher Tori Hatfield. 

The Hornets won the first game 18-3 and kept the momentum going in the second contest, which was an equally impressive 19-2 win that put the finishing touches on a successful week on the diamond. Dallas County (10-4) also won two area games over Wilcox Central Thursday in Plantersville, clinching the No. 2 seed in class 5A, area 6.

“We made a few changes to our lineup as far as hitting wise and we made some field changes,” said Dallas County head coach Willie Moore. “We’ve played a little bit better, but we have a long way to go.”

The Hornets took advantage of mistakes by the Panthers (0-6) Friday in each of their two wins, but their bats did plenty of talking too.

Yasmeen Green and Brittney Brown, who went 4-for-4 on the day on four bunts, highlighted the day’s first inning with RBIs as Dallas County batted completely around and scored a dozen runs. By the time the first inning was over, Southside had dug too deep of a hole to dig out of it.

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” said Southside coach Timothy Moorer. “It’s just growing pains. It’s going to be like that until their mind gets focused on what they are supposed to do and know what they are supposed to do at all times.”

Many of the runs were scored off of throwing errors and walks, but Dallas County also created its own luck too. The Hornets were very aggressive on the base paths — highlighted by a play where Brown somehow dove underneath the catcher at home to score a run — and it paid dividends.

“We try to get our girls to be able to play the game and not really think so much,” Moore said.

A double by Shaniya England and singles by Hatfield and Morgan Krumnow started the second inning for the Hornets. Wild pitches allowed Krumnow and Keyondra Fletcher to score and Green batted in Taylor Moore to make it 17-0.

Southside closed the gap in the third on a hit by Antonyah Dudley, which scored Destiny Davis and Roshonda Woods. Dudley later scored on a passed ball to make the score 17-3. The Hornets tacked on one additional run in the bottom of the inning to reach the necessary lead for the run rule to take affect.

Game two was all about bunting.

Nearly every player in the Dallas County lineup laid down a bunt in game two and the hits kept coming.

“I think some of the girls needed to increase their batting average percentages, and we had one girl who went 4-for-4 today on four bunts,” Moore said.

“It was good to see some of the girls that aren’t getting on the bases a lot get on the bases a lot today. I think it gave us a little bit more confidence.”

The Hornets scored nine runs in the first inning and pulled away for a 19-2 win in a game that was also called after three innings.

Lindsey McIlwain pitched the second game for Dallas County. Moore said the Hornets have showed a lot of improvement, but still have plenty of work to do.

“We are pretty solid at our positions right now but we need to improve on the little things,” Moore said.