HENDERSONVILLE — There was no doubt about this one. Top-ranked Roberson avenged its only loss of the season by hammering West Henderson 15-3 to take over sole possession of first place in the Mountain Athletic Conference 3-A showdown on the Falcons’ home field Friday afternoon.

"They hit the ball and put pressure on us,’’ said West head coach Jim Hyatt, whose team now finds itself needing a win against North Buncombe or East Henderson for a playoff berth. "We didn’t play well. But they had a lot to do with that. They’re a good team.’’

How good were they? The Rams (19-1, 7-1) did everything well. They kept the pressure on from start to finish at the plate. Roberson scored a run in the first inning, and after giving up two in the second, answered with three in the third to take the lead for good at 4-2. Then, in the last three innings the Rams really turned up the heat, scoring 11 runs while sending 26 batters to the plate.

The Rams also did it with strong pitching and defense. While the 10th-ranked Falcons (17-4 6-2) went through five pitchers, the Rams needed only one. Right-hander Kory Radford (7-0) appeared to get stronger as the game went along. West went scoreless over the last three innings, when the Falcons managed only two of their seven hits.

Radford finished with seven strikeouts and no walks.

"He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he knows how to pitch,’’ Roberson head coach Tommy Smith said of Radford. "He’s pitched in some big games for us. He relies on location and a little bit of craftiness. They scored and went ahead, but he kept his composure.’’

The Falcons hit Radford hard in the second with four base hits, including three doubles to take a 2-1 lead. One of the doubles was painful, leading to a nasty collision between center fielder Brian Medlock and second baseman Kenny Smith. After a few minutes on the ground, both players got up and stayed in the game.

From that point, it was a breeze for the Rams.

"It got me pretty good,’’ said Smith, who had an excellent game, going 3-for-3 with a sacrifice, double, home run and four runs scored.

His home run came in the very next inning when the Rams finished off Falcons’ starter Justin Weeks (10-2). After Weeks retired the first two hitters, Smith homered 360 feet to dead center. Ryan Deans then delivered a double that designated hitter Chris Price followed with an opposite-field homer, clearing 345 feet in left-center.

While West got only two hits from its first five hitters, Roberson was deadly, getting 12 of its 14 hits and all but one of its runs from that part of the lineup.