On the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning in Game 1 of South Arkansas College’s Region 2 doubleheader against Southeast Arkansas College on Thursday, Ty Simonelli drilled a solo home run.

It was the beginning of a monster day for the sophomore center fielder, who helped lead the Stars to a sweep of the Sharks by scores of 13-0 in five innings and 14-3 in eight innings.

“It started off with the first pitch of the game,” SouthArk coach Cannon Lester said. “They threw a little cutter in, and he gets a little excited on those sometimes and tries to hook them, but he stayed through that one and hit a no-doubter to right-center on the first pitch of the game.”

In Game 1, Simonelli went 2 for 3 at the plate, adding a double along with his aforementioned home run. He drove in two runs. After hitting in the leadoff spot in the opener, Simonelli moved down to the sixth spot in the batting order and had one of the best individual performances any player has had in the history of the program.

In the night cap, the Quitman High School graduate who is now a sophomore at SouthArk, went 3-for-4 with three home runs and seven RBIs to finish 5-for-7 with four home runs and nine RBIs in the sweep.

“Ty had one of those banner days that you’re always going to remember as a coach and a player,” Lester said.

But it wasn’t Simonelli’s leadoff home run in Game 1 that was the precursor to his huge day.

“I knew the day would go well because in his second or third at-bat, he hit a double off the net in left-center,” Lester said of the left-handed hitting sophomore. “When he’s hitting the ball to left-center, that’s when you know he’s really going. That’s the first time he’s done that in a while. I think that set up the rest of his day.”

Simonelli, who has signed with Northwestern State (La.), is now hitting .363 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs this season heading into the final two games of the series with the Sharks on Saturday.

“Ty’s an explosive player,” Lester said. “He can handle the good arms too. I think he hit one about 430 feet on a 95 mile-an-hour fastball earlier in the year.

“He can handle the good arms that we’re really going to see down the stretch when it really means something. Of the four home runs, I think two were to center field, and that’s good. The last one, he stayed on a breaking ball and hit it right down the line. If he can stay in the big part of the field, that’s big.”