Reed didn’t even register as a speed bump Thursday as Spanish Springs rolled to a 12-1 victory in prep baseball action and pushed its win streak to 17 games.

The Cougars followed up a four-run second inning with three runs in the third and five in the fourth frame to institute the 10-run mercy rule after five innings of play.

“I was pretty pleased,” SSHS baseball coach Mike Bosco said. “With the wind blowing like this, and I thought their pitcher threw pretty hard, I was just hoping we were going to show up and swing the bats the way we did, and fortunately we did.”

Three straight hits ignited the rally in the second inning. Three walks by Reed starting pitcher Garrett Corbett kept the inning going, and SSHS pitcher Jake Bray helped his cause, capping the rally with an RBI single.

Although the visitors batted around in the inning, they left the bases loaded, so it could have been worse.

The Raiders picked up their lone run in the bottom half of the second when Roberto Velazquez reached on an infield error and eventually came home on Adam Bolingbroke’s base hit to shallow left field that dropped in with two outs.

“Spanish Springs is a very good team. They are a team when it comes playoff time, no one is going to want to see them,” Reed baseball coach Nick Royle said. “Bray did a fantastic job on the mound keeping us off balance. I think we only hit the ball hard one or two times.”

Spanish Springs immediately got back to work in the third and added to its 4-1 edge.

With one out, Brandon Mathis lofted a shallow fly ball to left field. Ryan Butler could not make the diving snag and Mathis ended up on second.

Henry Rueda sprayed a two-out single to shallow right field, allowing Mathis to score. Rueda moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch and then swiped third. He was able to trot home when the throw to third caromed into the outfield, increasing the guests’ lead to 6-1.

Spanish Springs (21-4, 10-3 HDL) added one more run in the third on an RBI single to center field by Justin Agliolo.

To start the fourth, Bray cleared the short porch in right field with a solo homer, making it an 8-1 game.

Humberto Espinoza followed with a double and a hit batsman put runners on first and second.

Three straight run-scoring singles by the bottom third of the lineup increased the lead to 11-1. Agliolo drew a bases-loaded walk to earn the final RBI of the game.

Bray, Espinoza, Mathis and Rueda all had two hits apiece for the Cougars. Rueda, Bray and Agliolo each drove in a pair of runs.

Bray allowed four hits in five innings of work. He struck out eight and walked three in the win. Reed’s lone run was unearned.

Spanish Springs is officially in the playoffs, but could finish either second or third depending on its final five High Desert League games. Mathematically the Cougars can still take first, but Reno has a stranglehold on the top seed.

“We’re pretty hungry, and we feel we need to make a statement and let everyone know that we’re one of the top teams and we want to be there at the end,” Bosco said.

The Cougars will host Saturday’s doubleheader and for the second straight season have dealt the death blow to the Raiders’ postseason hopes. Reed (7-16, 3-10 HDL) didn’t have much of a chance to make the playoffs entering the second-to-last league series of the spring.

The Blue and Gold needed Wooster to suffer a colossal collapse against last-place Elko this weekend just to have some control over its own destiny.

“It is disappointing. We were eliminated on the Saturday of last year (versus Spanish Springs),” Royle said. “It’s disappointing coming down to five games left. It’s really hard for a team to play for something. When you’ve played the game for long enough, you play for pride, you play for the name on the front of your jersey.”