Andalusia freshman Zack Ward hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the third inning Friday night to help lead the Bulldogs to an 11-1, five-inning win over Elba at Straughn High School.

“That’s a big swing from a young kid,” Andalusia coach Jonathan Rasberry said. “It’s good to see a young kid be successful, especially sticking to our approach and letting the ball travel.

“I think if we continue to swing the bat, then we’ll be OK, but we’ve got to continue to keep the pressure up and not let up,” he said about the rest of the tournament.

Ward was facing an 0-and-1 count at the plate and Elba’s Gunnar McCollough threw a fast ball that ended up over the left field fence.

That was Ward’s first home run of his career and the Bulldogs went on to score three additional runs in the same inning.

Andalusia got runs on board in the second inning, scoring four runs on five hits.

Bulldogs’ left fielder Rob Maddox got the inning started with a single and Ward followed with a double to left.

Andalusia pitcher C.P. Rogers came to the plate and knocked a 2 RBI double to left field to score Maddox and Ward.

Robert Woodall then hit a single and quickly advanced to second base on a passed ball.

Woodall came in on an RBI double from short stop Lee Enzor to end the scoring for that inning.

Elba scored its only run in the third inning. Sandarius Reed hit a solo home run on a no-count.

Rasberry said overall, the team did well Friday night.

“I thought we did a good job,” he said. “I thought we had a little bit of trouble in the first inning of staying back. I thought we did a good job of getting base runners on every inning.”

Before Ward hit his grand slam home run in the third inning, Nate Mack started with a single and Aaron Norris got hit by a pitch. Maddox then walked to load the bases with no outs.

Later in the inning and with one out, Andalusia found itself with runners on first and second before Enzor hit a sacrifice grounder to score Woodall, who also got hit by a pitch.

Culbreth later came around on an RBI single from Dilan Manring.

Mack later came around on an RBI single from Norris to end the inning and Andalusia’s scoring drive in the game.

Rogers came around later on a sacrifice grounder from Shane Culbreth.

In addition, Rogers earned the win for the Bulldogs pitching 4.0 innings allowing five hits, one walk and striking out two.

Stewart Studstill earned the save pitching 1.0 innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Woodall was 1-for-4 with one single and two runs; Culbreth was 2-for-3 with one single, one double, one RBI and one run; Enzor was 1-for-3 with one double and two RBIs; Manring was 2-for-3 with one single, one double, one RBI and one run; Mack was 2-for-3 with two singles and one run; Norris was 1-for-3 with one single, one run and one RBI; Maddox was 1-for-3 with two singles and two runs; Ward was 2-for-3 with one double, three RBIs, one home run and two runs; and Rogers was 1-for-3 with one double, two RBIs and one run.

After defeating Elba, Andalusia went on to play Dale County in its second game of the night. The results of the second game were not available as of press time Friday.