Wyoming East Baseball Takes Upper-hand against James Monroe in the AA Region 3 Series

New Richmond - The opening game between Wyoming East and James Monroe in the Class AA Region 3 championship series was projected to be a pitcher's duel.

The hometown bats begged to differ.

Combining for nine hits, including four doubles, the Warriors rolled past the Mavericks 12-1 in five innings Monday at the War Zone.

Wyoming East now holds a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series which shifts to Lindside Tuesday, weather permitting.

While the Warriors now hold the early advantage, head coach Kevin Hedinger made it clear there is still work to be done for his team.

"That win was nice, but that doesn't get us where we want to be," Wyoming East head coach Kevin Hedinger said. "We started in late October lifting weights trying to get to the state tournament and maybe win a state championship. We have one more to get."

James Monroe head coach Tom Gardinier isn't ready to push the panic button either.

"Sometimes you have days like this. With two teams as good as we are and as good as they are, somebody has to lose," Gardinier said. "Regardless if it is 1-0, or 12-1, a loss is a loss and a win is a win. That is the reason why this is a best-of-3 series. You have to win two. In all honesty, all they did was half of the work today."

The visitors made the initial noise when Payton Gardinier hit a two-out single and scored on a triple from Kadyn Hines.

Wyoming East responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, but had some help from the Mavericks to grab the lead.

Zach Hunt led off with a single and moved to second base on a errant pick-off attempt. Hunt then stole third and scored on a passed ball to tie the game.

A walk, a hitter batter and two more passed balls pushed another run across for a 2-1 lead for the Warriors.

The self-inflicted damage did not ultimately beat the Mavericks, but it did send the game in the wrong direction for the visitors.

"We put ourselves behind the eight-ball. We let some passed balls get by that we normally don't do. We let balls fall that we don't normally do," Gardinier said. "But, I tip my hat to them. The kid pitched a great game. We have struggled seeing him. He had 15 or 16 strikeouts last time. It was just one of those days."

The next two innings looked like the advertised pitcher's duel, but that all change in the bottom of the fourth.

Talan Muscari double to open the at-bat and moved to third on a single from Hunt. A double from Miken Smyth scored Muscari and moved Hunt to third.

Hunt scored on an infield single from Braxton Morgan and Smyth made it 4-1 via a James Monroe error.

"We put the bat on the ball and that was the difference that we didn't do up there at there place (in the regular season)," Hedinger said. "You can't hardly score on a wild pitch at James Monroe. Here, you get a runner on third base, you kind of take the curve-ball away from pitchers sometimes. We got those runs early and that really helped."

The game completely unraveled for the visitors an inning later with all the damage coming with two outs.

With two runners aboard thanks to a pair of walks, Muscari loaded the bases with a single. Hunt then cleared the bases with a double down the right field line for a 8-1 lead.

A James Monroe error scored Hunt ahead of two more walks which once again loaded the bases. This time it was Gaige Cooper's turn in the spotlight.

Cooper launched a shot that hit high on the left field fence for another bases clearing double, securing the 12-1 win.

"I thought it was going to be a grand slam. I think a couple of our runners did too because they were standing there watching it," Hedinger said. "When he is under control at the plate, he drives the ball pretty good."

While the Mavericks were struggling to quiet the Warrior bats, Wyoming East pitcher Jaeden Lester was applying the clamps to the visitors.

After the two hits in the first inning, Lester allowed just one more over the next four innings and finished with 11 strikeouts.

"He has been solid like that (all year). Some people think he is cocky, but he is just a confident kid," Hedinger said. "He is confident in his ability. Our coaching staff is confident in him."

Game two moves to Monroe County Tuesday, but weather could play a huge factor in when game two will be played.

"We have a little more work than they do now. We have to leave what we did here and go to Lindside (Tuesday) and play like we are suppose to," Gardinier said. "We have to learn from this, but at the start of the day, we had to win two regardless."