WARDSVILLE - It took a few times through the order to shake the rust off the bats for the Blair Oaks Falcons, but the pitching looked as if it was in midseason form Tuesday night.
The Falcons used four pitchers to combine and throw a one-hitter, knocking off defending conference champion Southern Boone 4-0 at the Falcon Athletic Complex in their Tri-County Conference opener.
It had been 15 days since Blair Oaks' last game, which was March 20 at New Bloomfield. Rainy weather cancelled four games for the Falcons during that stretch, including three home games.
"We came out with a little too much excitement," Blair Oaks coach Travis Henke said. "We just had to calm down a little bit and change our approach. Then we started hitting the ball a little better."
Starting pitcher Jason Rackers retired all nine batters he faced in the first three innings, seven via strikeout. Despite the perfect start, Henke went to his bullpen for a couple of reasons:
He wanted to get multiple pitchers some innings after the long layoff.
With four games this weekend at the Capital City Invitational starting Thursday, he wanted all of his pitchers to be available to throw under the new pitch-count restrictions.
Henke feels "very confident" with his pitching staff heading into the three-day tournament, using Ryan Paschal, Tyler Swehla and Ethan Rackers in relief Tuesday.
"Our guys threw well," Henke said. "Jason set the tone and threw three great innings. Paschal came in and threw very well, and Swehla and Ethan came in and they threw strikes."
Paschal walked two batters and struck out two in his two innings of work, while Swehla pitched a perfect sixth inning to keep the no-hitter going.
Ethan Rackers retired the first batter he faced in the top of the seventh, but Sam Stichnote slapped a single into right field just out of the reach of Blair Oaks second baseman Nolan Hair to break up the no-hitter.
No Southern Boone players advanced past first base during the game.
"I'll take that every day," Henke said.
Southern Boone pitcher Daniel Smith held Blair Oaks scoreless through four innings. The Falcons left the bases loaded in the second inning and stranded two in scoring position in the third.
The rust finally wore off in fifth inning.
"I told the guys right before the inning started, 'Hey, let's change our approach. We've been two times through the lineup and we haven't made an adjustment. Let's change it and see what happens,'" Henke said.
Hair was hit by a pitch with a two-strike count to start the fifth, working back to the top of the batting order. After a double down the left-field line by Ethan Rackers, Tyler Gish came through with a two-run single up the middle to break the scoreless deadlock.
Garrett Welschmeyer also had a two-RBI single later in the inning to give the Falcons a four-run lead.
Tuesday was the first time in several days Blair Oaks was able to hit on its field.
"It's difficult and everybody's in the same shoes," Henke said. "We talked to Southern Boone before the game and they couldn't even get on their field today.
"It's tough. You can only swing so much in a cage without your guys getting burned out and losing focus. You can only go in the gym so much without losing focus. You have to do one thing at a time, focus on it and hope you do well."
Gish had the only mutli-hit game for either team, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and two RBI.
Tuesday was the first conference loss for Southern Boone (1-4, 0-1 Tri-County) since falling to Blair Oaks in April 2015.
"They're a great ballclub," Henke said. "Getting that one out of the way and getting a good victory against them, it starts us up for this weekend."
Blair Oaks (4-0, 1-0 Tri-County) will face Helias at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex in its first game of the Capital City Invitational.
The Falcons then play two games Friday, facing Lutheran: St. Charles at noon and Blue Springs at 4:30 p.m. to conclude pool play.
Southern Boone won the JV game 2-1.
Cameron Hardwick went 1-for-2 with an RBI for the Falcons. Parker Bax and Gavin Bersnkoetter each had hits for Blair Oaks.
Colton Hoelscher started for the Falcons and gave up two runs on two hits with three strikeouts in three innings.
The Blair Oaks JV squad (1-1) hosts Fulton on Monday.