VALDOSTA — The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets broke out to an early lead and held on, downing the Lowndes Vikings 8-6 Tuesday.

Slade Taylor was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead Central, which is now 16-1. Shane Stephenson went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs.

A wild pitch and Stephenson’s sacrifice fly brought in the first two runs in the first inning. Central plated four runs in the second, as Carson Odom’s single scored a run, Taylor followed with a two-run single and Stephenson capped the rally with a run-scoring single.

Lowndes struck for four runs in the home half of the third, getting run-scoring singles from CJ Rose, Treyson Hughes and Reid Wilcher and McCage Pruitt’s sac fly.

Stephenson stole third in the fifth to set up a run, and Taylor added another RBI single in the sixth for the final margin.

Stephenson also struck out two in the final 1 1/3 innings to preserve the victory.

Central will host Bainbridge in a doubleheader Friday, with the first game set for 5 p.m.