It was hard not to notice the Spikes' excitement after their 13-0 rout of the Tri-City ValleyCats Wednesday night. The players were laughing, singing and generally upbeat.

The team didn't have much to laugh about the first third of the season, however. The team had a 6-20 record, and was on pace to have the worst record in New York-Penn League history. The team was at or near the bottom of almost every pitching and hitting category.

"We know we can do this," said first baseman Calvin Anderson. "We've been hitting all year. We just haven't put a full game together. That's been our problem this year; we haven't driven in runs like we should."

That was, until Wednesday night.

The Spikes' season-long struggles, both at the plate and on the field, were not apparent. The Spikes, who were second to last in the league in runs scored, scored 13 runs, four of which came off Anderson's fifth inning grand slam. The 13 runs were a Medlar Field record. The team that struggled to hit all season got 12 of them, and drew six more walks.

Wednesday's starting pitcher Rudy Owens had fought problems on the mound in his first five starts, but gave up only three hits and one walk in five innings pitched.

The Spikes were also able to capitalize off of the ValleyCats' mistakes.

Shortstop Andy Vasquez continued to hustle down the first base line after hitting a routine ground ball to the second baseman. Cats' second baseman Michael Diaz bobbled the ball and was unable to make the throw in time. Vasquez's hustle earned him a RBI and kept the inning alive.

Diaz's mistake was one of three ValleyCats errors. The Cats also threw two wild pitches and narrowly missed snagging several other Spikes hits for outs.

The ValleyCats' performance reminded Spikes manager Brad Fischer of his own team's performance for most of the year.

"They played the way we played a lot this year," Fischer said. "You just saw a team that was down and just couldn't get themselves back up."

The Spikes are hoping that Wednesday's win will turn around their losing season.

"Sometimes it takes a game like this to bust it open for you, so I'm definitely hoping that's the case," said catcher/designated hitter Chris Simmons.

"I think we're definitely going to turn it around. We're getting more hits, and we're pitching better than we used to," Owens said.

Outfielder Cole White extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a pair of singles and a double off the Sheetz sign in center field.

White has only played in 14 of the team's 27 games, but is making his case to be an everyday player, especially now that his right arm has healed.

"Now that he can play defense, it's a little easier to get him into the lineup," said Fischer.

Now, the Spikes are looking to put the past behind them and build on Wednesday's big win.

"We can't keep it [the first third of the season] on our minds. If we did that, then it would definitely screw us up," said Owens. "We just have to put the wins and losses behind us and keep moving on.

"[Our record] isn't important right now. I told them about two weeks ago that we're going to try to win the first game of the series, then take two-out-of-three, and then, if we can do that, maybe we got a chance to win three," Fischer said.

Although Fischer was happy with Wednesday's performance, he knows he can't let the team dwell on it too much.

"You got to refocus tomorrow and give it our best shot again," Fischer said. "Tomorrow is a new day."