Cullman's Paxton Ponder gives a fist bump to coach Brent Patterson after hitting a double.

In a tradition unlike any other, Cullman’s baseball team is moving on to the second round.

The Class 6A No. 3 Bearcats (27-11) downed Hazel Green 13-7 at Bill Shelton Field on Saturday to win their 19th straight opening-round playoff series.

Cullman, which took command of the contest with a seven-run third inning, tallied 14 hits in the victory.

“To advance is huge,” coach Brent Patterson said. “Most everybody in the state is working in the same type of situation. It’s almost like we’ve never been in the playoffs before. Our program has, but a lot of these players haven’t. It can catch you off guard. It’s different when you know that if you don’t show up you can go home. I think you’ll see a lot of teams that made it through be a lot better in Round 2 than they were in Round 1.”

The Trojans garnered a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Jake Dueland’s solo homer and Paxton Ponder’s RBI groundout in the second frame put the home team ahead 2-1.

Hazel Green scratched across a run in the top half of the third inning to tie things up, but the Bearcats delivered some offensive fireworks soon afterward.

Max Dueland (HBP) and Hunter Brooks (walk) earned bases-loaded RBIs before Austin Hurt (two-run double), Ponder (two-run double) and Brennen Norton (RBI single) put fantastic swings on pitches to help the Black and Gold race out to a 9-2 advantage.

“It’s no secret we are aggressive offensively and have a lot of guys who try to make things happen,” Patterson said. “All of them wanted to be the guy to get us going and get that big hit. I was proud of those at-bats. We laid off good pitches that were close, got some walks and then got some big at-bats from Austin and Paxton. Those were huge for our team to be able to take a breath and settle in and get back to what we’ve been doing all season.”

The Trojans scored two runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but the Bearcats matched them in both frames. Max Dueland roped a two-run single in the fifth, and Matt Brock added an RBI single in the sixth — Cullman also scored on an error — to keep the road squad at bay.

Norton led the way offensively with three hits and an RBI, while Ponder (three RBIs), Hurt (two RBIs), Brock (RBI) and Jake Dueland (RBI) totaled two hits apiece. Max Dueland (three RBIs), Kaleb Heatherly (RBI) and Brooks (RBI) rounded out the hit parade with one apiece.

Hayden Stancil allowed three hits and four earned runs in five innings to get the win. He struck out three batters.

The Bearcats will travel to No. 7 Chelsea (25-14) next week in a rematch of the 2019 state championship series won by Cullman. The Hornets advanced to the second round after sweeping Huffman.

“They’ve got one of the best pitchers in the state in (Alabama signee) Connor Ball,” Patterson said. “Tons of arms as well as a lot of experience on that team. It’ll be a big challenge for us.”