A 5 run first inning for the Grizzlies set the tone of the rest of the game after the Grizzlies bested Arbor View 12-11 yesterday.

   “We knew they could swing the bat well over there so we had to be better than them,” Shortstop Mitchell Otis, who tripled twice, said.

   The Grizzlies led 11-0 into the fourth, but a 9-run fourth inning by the Aggies brought the game to just two. Senior third baseman for the Aggies, Austin Pheifer, hit two home runs in the same inning and drove in four runs.

   The Grizzlies answered back after a single and a stolen base. Scoring on a dropped fly ball the Grizzlies extended the led 12-9 into the fifth inning.

  Erik DuLittle came in relief and threw 3 ⅓ innings to hold off the Aggies. Pheifer struck out,  stopping the scoring threat with two runners on.

    “I had to hit my spots I knew he was the real deal and I can’t make a mistake,” DuLittle said.

  The Grizzlies advance to play Cimarron-Memorial High School on Thursday starting at 4 p.m. at Cimarron.