Tipton coach Andy Turner was confident when he brought in Grant Huhmann from third base with one out and the bases loaded in the first inning.
The Cardinals' ace didn't disappoint.
Huhmann got Tipton out of the early jam and went on to allow one unearned run on one hit while striking out 13 in five innings as Tipton claimed a 7-2 win against Calvary Lutheran on Monday afternoon.
"Grant is a very good pitcher," Turner said. "He had a rough outing in our last game, but today he was more comfortable, more confident and a lot more in control. Getting out of that jam was a big momentum booster for us."
Huhmann didn't mind having his scheduled start being moved up a day, which also happened to be his 17th birthday, and he didn't have any issues getting loose on just eight warmup pitches.
The junior recorded two strikeouts on eight pitches to end Calvary's rally in the first and went on to strike out nine of the next 14 batters he faced.
"I like being put in situations where I have to work to get out of," Huhmann said. "I like to test myself."
Tipton outhit Calvary 10-4 and the Lions stranded eight baserunners in their first loss of the season.
"Obviously they're one of the better teams we've played and we knew they would be," Calvary coach Rusty Bourg said. "We needed to play good competition like this so it would kind of give us a feel for what we've got to work on to get up to the next level."
Beau Monson led off the bottom of the first with a single and Calvary drew three free bases, including an RBI walk by Bradley MacLaughlin to take a 1-0 lead.
Thanks to Huhmann, that's all the runs the Lions would get in the frame.
"Of all the pitching we've seen, he was probably the best pitcher this spring - good velocity, pretty good curveball," Bourg said. "We just didn't handle it very well."
Ryan Wood and Huhmann drove in back-to-back runs following a two-out error by Calvary in the top of the third to put Tipton up by one. The Cardinals kept the momentum going with four hits in the top of the fourth and Wood capped off the inning with an RBI double to give Tipton a 6-1 lead.
"We knew we could compete with these guys, the best team we've seen all season, but our defense didn't help us today," said Calvary senior Caleb Propst, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI. "One of our focuses all season has been to improve on defense and I think it took a step back today."
Tipton added an unearned run in the fifth, but Propst put Calvary back on the board when he drove in Hance Sommerer from second with one out in the bottom of the frame.
The Cardinals' pitching didn't allow any more.
"We talk a lot about having a no-strike approach," Bourg said. "With no strikes, you should be looking for a pitch and never be fooled without any strikes. We had some guys that were fooled with no strikes. We've just got to work on our approach."
Calvary junior Wyatt Archer was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits, while striking out five in four innings. Monson finished the game giving up one unearned run while yielding three hits in three innings.
"I thought both of our pitchers pitched pretty well," Bourg said. "They made some pitching mistakes. I think there were two or three hits on 0-2 counts. You can't put the ball right down the middle of the plate on 0-2. Other than that, I thought we did OK."
Dylan Cooper shut the door for Tipton, allowing two hits and striking out four in 12/3 innings.
Gavin Nutt and Monson had the only other hits to lead Calvary at the plate.
Wood was 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead Tipton, while David Richardson, Dylan Tate and Trenton Pace each added two hits to help pace the Cardinals (2-1), who host Versailles at 5 p.m. today.
Calvary (4-1) will return to action Friday with the Calvary/New Bloomfield Tournament.
"Every coach wants to win every game, but I think we learned from this," Bourg said. "Hopefully it will make us a little better going into the weekend."