In their last several games, the Marengo Academy baseball team has been on fire.

Thursday afternoon, the Wilcox Academy Wildcats found out just how hot the Longhorn team is to the tune of a 13-3 drumming.

The weather was cold, but the Longhorn bats were not, as Marengo put their region opener away in the sixth inning by the 10 run rule.

In the meantime, Robbie Smith and Chris Whitaker teamed up to hold Wilcox to just five hits and three runs. Whitaker added two strikeouts to his totals.

It took the Marengo defense an inning to get their legs under them. Early errors allowed the Wildcats to round the bases and take a 1-0 lead.

But, Marengo answered in a big way in their first go-round. Nic Laduron, Trey Lyles and Randy Martin all reached base on the first three at-bats of the game for Marengo.

Laduron then crossed the plate on a sacrifice by Smith. Lyles and Martin followed, scoring on errors to make the score 3-1.

With a man on first, Josh Dunn set the pace for the rest of the day slamming a pitch over the wall for a two-run shot to put Marengo up 5-1.

In the second, the Wildcats threatened, but Longhorn catcher Brett Vick quickly ended any thoughts of a Wilcox run when he caught the runner attempting to swipe third.

Neither team made much noise at the plate for an inning, until Marengo stepped up for two more runs in the third.

Smith singled to start things off. Trey Rowell followed, reaching on an error to put two men on base for Hagen Kaylor. Kaylor delivered with an RBI double to score Sha Hale, who was pinch running for Smith to put Marengo up 6-1.

Dunn again put a solid swat on the ball, this time keeping it in the park for a sacrifice fly to score Rowell and put Marengo up 7-1.

The Longhorns did even more damage in the fourth plating three more runners. Martin delivered an RBI single to score Laduron to make the score 8-1.

Smith followed with a rocket over the left field wall to score Martin and himself for a 10-1 lead.

But, Wilcox was not ready to go down without a fight. A one-run homer and a run on an error left the Wildcats down only 10-3 heading to the bottom of the fifth.

But, Marengo began to pull away in the final two innings to end the game early.

In the bottom of the fifth, Whitaker, who came on to pitch the final inning and two thirds, helped himself with a solo home run. Martin then scored Laduron on an RBI double to make the score 12-3 and leave Marengo knocking on the door for an early win.

The Longhorns had to wait one more inning to put the game away, when Beau Digmon scored from third on a balk to end the game 13-3.

The Longhorns had several strong performances at the plate. Smith was 2-2 with three RBI, Dunn followed going 1-1 with 3 RBI. Martin and Kaylor were both 2-3 with two and one RBI respectively and Whittaker was 1-2 with a solo home run.