THOMASVILLE — Thomas County Central wasted little time punching its ticket to the second round.

The Yellow Jackets scorched the Effingham County Rebels for 13 runs in the first two innings and cruised to a 21-4 rout in a Class AAAA series finale Saturday.

“We hit the ball really well all series,” Central coach Chad Parkerson said. “I hope it can continue.”

Central advanced to play at Woodward Academy, the top seed out of Region 2.

Central tallied 44 runs in the three-game series. The majority of the Yellow Jackets’ offense Saturday came with two outs. In four innings, Central notched 12 two-out hits and 16 two-out runs.

“Two-out hits wins ball games,” Parkerson said. “That’s what we talk about, and we did it today. We hit with two strikes and two outs. There’s no time limit on outs.”

Effingham County may have wondered if the first inning was ever going to end. Central sent nine batters to the plate and recorded five straight RBI-hits with two outs.

After Effingham scored its four runs in the bottom of the first, Central responded with an eight-run second. Gary Smith smacked a solo home run to start the onslaught and capped the inning with a two-run double.

The Yellow Jackets were also aided by two Rebels’ errors, the biggest of which came on a potential double play grounder by Brandon Bynum. Effingham County’s shortstop couldn’t handle the throw, however, and the Rebels didn’t record an out. The two errors resulted in four Yellow Jackets runs.

Central added two more in the third and six in the fourth. Eight of Central’s nine starters had at least one hit.

Right fielder Bynum finished with two hits and drove in three. First baseman Davis McDermond tallied a pair of hits and an RBI.

“Bynum, senior, Davis, senior, a lot of our guys are stepping up when they need to,” Parkerson added.

Second baseman Tyler Wooten paced Central with three hits and four RBIs. Left fielder Taylor Payne added two hits and two RBIs. Batting in the No. 8 position, shortstop Josh Gobble drove in three with three hits.

Smith started on the mound for the Yellow Jackets, but lasted just 2/3 of an inning. Battling through a rib injury, Smith struggled with his control, giving up two hits, two walks and a hit batter.

“He went out there and battled, fought through some pain,” Parkerson said. “It’s bothering him a little bit. We’re going to try and heal him up and see if he can go next week. I appreciate the effort.”