In the middle of the fourth inning, Troy was seemingly on cruise control. Then Taylorville scored. And again. And again. And again.

Troy needed every one of its 14 runs to knock off and eliminate Taylorville 14-11 late Wednesday night in the Alabama Dixie O-Zone State Tournament at the Troy Sportsplex. Taylorville scored seven runs in the final three innings, and brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth, before Troy put the late rally, and the game, to rest.

Troy pounded out 18 hits en route to the win, but maybe none as big as Trevor Barron’s skyscraper home run in the top of the second. The home run not only got Troy on the board, after Taylorville plated two runs in the bottom of the first, but also set the table for the rest of the Troy line up.

In the inning Troy sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs, to gain a lead they would never surrender.

“The old saying is ‘Hitting is contagious’,” said Troy head coach Chris Huner. “Trevor got the inning started off, and got some energy flowing. The team is seeing the ball so well right now, and they are hitting it well. Even when we aren’t getting hits, they are hitting the ball hard.”

Troy scored seven runs in the second, three each in the third and fourth and one insurance run in the fifth.

Several Troy batters had multiple base knocks, including Barron. Cody Hollis, Daniel Phillips, Tristan Carter, Will Reeves and DQ Toney all had at least two hits. Barron led the team with three RBIs. Hollis, Reeves, Noah Lowery and Tyrell Jones each added two RBIs.

Troy will face Opelika in an elimination game on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. The winner of the game advances to the final round of the tournament, which is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch.

Huner said that even after a long day on Wednesday, his team will be ready Thursday morning.

“It is the same tomorrow (Thursday) as it has been the last few days,” Huner said. “We have to win or be done. The kids tend to put added pressure on themselves when they play somebody they know, and that showed against Enterprise and Dothan. I think we will come out ready to go against Opelika.”