Benedictine was as hot as the chili cook-off put on by the Bryan County baseball parents Friday night as the top-ranked team in the state cruised to a five-inning 15-2 victory in Pembroke.

The Cadets, now 6-0 in Region 2-AA, scored twice in the top of the first inning, then five more times with two outs in the top of the second inning.

"We've struggled with two outs all season," Redskins Coach Jason Roundtree said afterward. "We've probably given up 20 runs in that situation."

Benedictine's runs came on two doubles, two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch.

"There's a reason they're ranked No. 1," Roundtree said. "They are very good fundamentally."

Bryan County score its first run in the bottom of the third inning when Grayson Ward beat out an infield grounder, then stole second base and advanced to third on a fielder's choice, eventually crossing the plate on a wild pitch to make it 8-1.

J.J. Strickland scored Bryan County's second run in the bottom of the fourth inning, reaching first base on a fielding error and advancing to second on a missed pick-off attempt. With the bases loaded following a hit batter, Strickland crossed the plate when Ward was also hit by a pitch.

Roundtree said despite having several upperclassmen on the team, the Redskins are a young squad.

"We're young in terms of baseball experience," he said. "We also have freshmen and sophomores starting on varsity instead of gaining experience on JV. The effort is there, just not the results."

Bryan County, now 11-9 overall and 0-6 in the region, is at Swainsboro Tuesday and Beach Wednesday.