Vidalia needed only five innings to beat the Bethany Christian, the No. 1 team in Class B, as the Vikings rolled to an 11-1 victory on a clear and sunny Saturday afternoon.

“It is so nice outside. I almost wished the game went all seven innings,” Vikings head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir said.

A four-run first inning and a six-run fourth inning helped the Vikings efficiently end the game against the Lions early.

In the first inning, winning pitcher Will Thomas got off to a shaky start with two walks, but struck out the next three batters to retire the side. At the plate, the Vikings opened the game with a barrage of hits, as the first five batters losing pitcher Franky Hebert faced got hits.

Jordan Brewer led off with a single, then stole second base and later third on a passed ball before being driven in by Cameron Ainsworth single. Later a Thomas single combined with a couple of errors drove in two runs and left Thomas on second. He was later driven in by Will Doughty to put the Vikings up 4-0.

“We have the capability of playing all aspects of the game,” Hoffpauir said. “Today we put them all together.”

In the fourth inning, things really came together for Vidalia. The Lions’ Grant Castillo took over on the mound, but he could not stop Thomas from picking up his third RBI of the game. A Shayne Knapp single and an error brought in two more runs, and a Will Doughty single drove in the third run of the inning.

Designated hitter Trey Barnes drove in a run, and a Colt Slover single gave Vidalia an 11-1 lead.

“We swung the bats well today, and we had great hustle from everybody,” Hoffpauir said.

The Vikings scored one lone run in the bottom of the second inning on a Nick Cole sacrifice fly that scored Brewer, while the only Bethany Christian came in the top of the fourth inning when Castillo scored from third on a wild pitch by Thomas.

With the win the Vidalia picked up it’s 20th win of the season to improve to 20-10 overall. Saturday’s five-inning loss was the second loss of the season for the Bethany Christian Lions as they fall to 20-2 overall.