Paradise High School baseball coach Scott Broussard had plenty of concerns going into last Tuesday's District 10-2A opener with Cisco.

His young team has not played in a big game yet and it was evident in a 7-1 loss.

The Panthers faced another challenging situation Friday night in Boyd where his crew was facing a county rival for the first time in a game that matters in the grand scheme of things. They stepped up to the plate this time and played more like veterans in a 17-4 romp.

Four pitchers tried to contain the Paradise offense that was at a season best. PHS scored in all but one inning and finished with 14 base hits.

Boyd did not help its case as it committed six errors in the loss.

Both teams scored three runs in the first inning. Boyd's Eric Warner and Seth Tate had doubles to help with the early scoring.

That's when the Panther defense settled down and took control of the game. They reclaimed the lead with three runs in the second inning and added six more in the third to take command of the district game, 12-4.

Boyd shut out Paradise in the fourth inning before allowing three more in the fifth inning.

The late runs ended the game early via the mercy rule.

"It was a great game for the Panthers," said Broussard. "I'm really proud of how we played."

Caleb Read was lethal at the plate where he went 3-for-4 with a double, scored four runs and posted three RBI. Tio Glover beat up on Boyd pitching with three base hits to go along with one RBI.

Nike Pike had the biggest hit of the game when he ripped a two-run home run. He finished with two hits, four RBI and scored twice.

Justin Bridges only managed one hit but he scored all five times he got on base. P.J. Fuller, Connor Higgins and Dusty Galbreaith also scattered base hits in the lopsided win.

Pike also got the win on the mound for the Panthers where he threw the first four innings. Glover and Read threw the last three innings and did not allow a run.

Kyle Huffman took the loss for Boyd in two innings of work.