By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

They were no-doubters.

Kayla Lane and Skye Loftin launched home runs that cleared the left-field fence with plenty of room to spare to lead Troup to a 13-4 victory over visiting Callaway on Thursday afternoon.

Lane hit a grand slam during a seven-run third inning, and Loftin’s two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth ended the game because of the run rule.

After opening the season with six losses in its first eight games, Troup has won two in a row, and it has scored a combined 22 runs in those games.

“We’re all coming together,” said Loftin, a junior third baseman. “We’re all bonding as sisters. That’s our biggest thing is relationships with each other. If we don’t have a good relationship off the field, we’re not going to have one on the field. So on the field, we’re a big family, and we love each other, and we play for each other.”

Troup’s top four hitters in the lineup did the bulk of the damage against Callaway.

Lane, Avery Pearson, Madison McCartney and Loftin combined for eight hits, including six extra-base hits, and nine RBIs.

Lane, a senior shortstop who was Troup’s leading hitter last season, had two hits, including her tape-measure grand slam that drove in four runs.

McCartney had a pair of RBI doubles, Loftin had two hits and three RBIs, and Pearson had two hits and two runs scored.

Olivia McInvale and Casey Sani each had a hit as well, and Hadleigh Livingston drove in a run.

Pearson got the complete-game victory, and she held Callaway to four hits and three earned runs in six innings.

For Callaway, leadoff hitter Leijorey Sanders led the way with two hits, including a triple leading off the game, and she had two RBIs and two runs scored.

Lydia Bartlett also had a triple for Callaway, and Lexi Furgerson had a hit and a walk.

It was close early, but Troup broke it open with the seven-run outburst in the third inning.

Troup had already scored three runs in the inning when Lane stepped to the plate, and she powered the ball way over the left-field fence for the grand slam to put Callaway in a 10-2 hole.

Callaway scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning to get within six, and it remained a 10-4 game until the sixth inning.

McCartney drove in the inning’s first run with her second RBI double of the game, and that brought Loftin to the plate.

Loftin made an out in her previous at-bat, but she’s learned over the years to have a short memory on the softball field.

“That last at-bat before that, it wasn’t the best,” Loftin said. “But my biggest thing is, don’t take it to the next at-bat.

“You have to shake it off and throw it away. There’s always another at-bat. That’s what you have to think about. You can’t carry it out to the field. You can’t carry it to your next at-bat.”

The Lady Cavaliers have dropped back-to-back games to fall to 4-5, but they still haven’t started their all-important Region 5-AA schedule.

Callaway visits Bowdon on Monday before opening region play on Tuesday against Jordan.

Senior Jasmine Dukes, who was off to a fast start before injuring herself in a game last weekend, should be ready to go by the Jordan game.

“We’re missing her, but I’m trying to wait for Jordan,” McCann said. “It’s her senior year, but I told her we need her well for the rest of the year.”