Golden Valley has been on the wrong end of a lopsided score plenty of times in its brief baseball history, including several big losses to West Ranch.

On Wednesday, the Grizzlies finally returned the favor to the Wildcats.

“It feels really good to be on the other side of it,” said catcher Rocky Sherwood, grinning from ear to ear.

The Grizzlies scored a staggering 18 runs on an equally staggering 18 hits – most of which came against West Ranch’s top two starting pitchers – while their own starter Scott Barlow tossed an impressive complete game in an 18-6 victory at Golden Valley High School.

While the victory is without a doubt the biggest in program history, it’s not the first time Golden Valley (7-9, 2-4) has beaten West Ranch. The Grizzlies defeated the Wildcats 6-4 back in April of 2007.

But it’s the victory on Wednesday people will really remember.

Golden Valley jumped ahead with five runs in the first two innings, including four runs with two outs.

West Ranch countered with three runs in the top of the second, with Hunter Hernandez driving in his brother Dakota and Jared Ortiz plating Hernandez and J.C. Cloney.

After that, West Ranch’s offense quieted down thanks to Barlow.

Golden Valley’s offense, meanwhile, kept right on rolling.

“They flat out hit the ball very well,” said West Ranch head coach Casey Burrill. “They were very offensive.”

The Grizzlies found a nice rhythm at the plate, with the top and bottom of the order consistently getting on base and the middle of the order providing the big hits to get runners home.

Cloney started the game for West Ranch (10-5, 4-2) but couldn’t get out of the third, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Allen Sarkissian relieved Cloney but didn’t fare any better, struggling with his control and giving up five runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Freshman leadoff hitter Billy Fredrick scored five runs for Golden Valley and went 3-for-4 at the plate, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning that also scored fellow freshman Riley Sherwood.

Sherwood finished 3-for-3 with four runs scored, as he also reached base on a walk. His older brother Rocky was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, and Kamran Young went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three doubles.

As impressive as the offense was, perhaps the Grizzlies’ defense was the biggest key in the victory. Making routine plays in the field has been a problem for them in the past, but they committed just one error on Wednesday.

“We’ve really been trying to work on defense,” said Golden Valley head coach Scott Drootin. “We knew we weren’t as bad as we were playing.”

The Wildcats scored another run in the third and tagged on two more in the sixth, but they couldn’t consistently catch up to Barlow, who yielded just eight hits.

“He was working offspeed today,” Rocky Sherwood said. “He was getting ahead and working from there.”

Chris Caldwell finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs for West Ranch, while Dakota Hernandez was 3-for-3 with three doubles, two runs and a walk.

West Ranch took part in a wooden bat tournament over spring break but Burrill said it didn’t affect his players.

They have enough on their minds right now.

“It’s very much an eye-opener for us,” Burrill said. “If we want to finish high in this league, we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game every time out.”

The Wildcats can start on Friday in a rematch with Golden Valley at home.

Drootin said his team won’t get overconfident after such a big win.

“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’re not going to let them do that and our kids are focused.”