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The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Moore County Raiders 4-1 on the road Monday for their seventh win of the season.

The Hornets took an early lead in the contest and expanded their advantage in the final inning to secure a victory in their first district game of the year.

Grant Jernigan led off the game with an inside-the-park home run to instantly get the Hornets on the board, and a sacrifice fly from Bryant Mooney later in the frame gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

The Hornets loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the third as Jernigan reached base on an error, Jed Ashley got hit by a pitch and Mooney drew a walk, but a flyout then ended the inning before any of them could score.

The Raiders scored their lone run for the day in the bottom of the third off of a two-out error to cut Huntland’s lead down to 2-1.

However, the Hornets pulled away in the top of the seventh as Parker Schultz singled and Jernigan doubled to get on base before both came around to score off of an error on a ball hit by Carson Riley to make it a 4-1 game.

The Raiders had one runner reach base on a single in the bottom of the seventh, but pitcher Eli Fitch struck out the next two batters to clinch a three-run victory.

Fitch pitched a complete game for the Hornets with nine strikeouts, four hits, one walk and one unearned run allowed.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 7-0 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

They will next play Tuesday at home against Moore County High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.