PLANO – Plano East coach Travis Collins isn't sure what Tuesday night's run-rule victory over area-ranked Plano means for his team's fortunes. His team has been that inconsistent. But he can't wait to find out.

Plano East finally cranked up its offense in a 15-4 road victory over Plano in a pivotal District 9-5A game.

It was a watershed night for Plano East, which had scored a total of nine runs in its last four games. Unranked Plano East had scored four runs or less in 12 of its 20 games.

But Plano East scored eight runs in the third inning to break open what had been just a 6-4 lead, making it the second time the Panthers have been in double digits this season.

Plano East (10-9-1, 4-2) would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Plano (12-5, 2-4), No. 8 in SportsDay's 5A area rankings, lost for the third time in four games.

"Who knows what it means," Collins said. "Every time I think we've turned a corner, we don't score any runs. This will help keep our guys positive."

Plano East always has a good feeling when senior ace Jeff Emens, a Missouri signee, is on the mound.

He said he was overthrowing when Plano scored four runs in the bottom of the first to take a 4-3 lead.

Emens locked down with Plano East up, 14-4, in the bottom of the third and needing three shutout innings for the five-inning run rule. He allowed two hits and had four strikeouts.

"This is a huge game for us," Emens said. "We had been scoring two or three runs a game. So this should give us a lot of confidence."

Plano East took advantage of a howling wind that was blowing straight out. Plano East had seven hits in the decisive third inning, five for extra bases. Logan Reneau and Tyler Wylie hit two-run home runs in the inning.