WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks baseball team had just played 11 games in a 12-day stretch. Needless to say, the Falcons were due for a rest.
They had just two days off before they were back at it Tuesday against the Warsaw Wildcats.
While it wasn't much of a break, Blair Oaks was able to give its starters a rest toward the end of its 12-2 win in five innings in a Tri-County Conference matchup at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"We've had a long week-and-a-half," Blair Oaks coach Travis Henke said. "Eleven games, it was tough on the guys. They're a little worn out.
"But we got them in there to get some swings, and then gave them some rest for a couple of days."
A seven-run second inning was key to getting starters some rest in the fourth and fifth innings.
While the Falcons collected five hits in the inning, it was three Warsaw errors that helped send 11 batters to the plate.
Jason Rackers started the inning by reaching first on an overthrow by third baseman Cade Chiles.
Brenden Brown attempted a sacrifice bunt to advance runners to second and third, but pitcher Cash Miller bobbled the ball, allowing Brown to reach first base easily.
Ryan Paschal made it to first as Chiles committed his second error of the inning with a throw that pulled first baseman Austin Gardner off the base.
"After last week, we were telling them to just put the ball in play," Henke said. "Put pressure on their defense and see what happens. Mistakes will happen and we capitalized on them."
Payton Bax had a two-run single in the second, and during his second plate appearance of the inning, Rackers hit a double down the left-field line to score two more runs to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.
That would be enough of a cushion for Bax, who picked up the complete-game win for Blair Oaks. Bax surrendered two runs in the top of the third inning, but the sophomore scattered five hits and finished with one walk and four strikeouts.
"He came in, threw strikes and pitched to contact," Henke said.
Blair Oaks scored three runs in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 10-2. Once the starters got in three plate appearances, Henke turned to his bench the fourth time through the batting order.
Maclaine McCarter started the fifth with a single and Bryce Kempker followed with a walk. Tyler Swehla had an RBI single and Scott Farley ended the game early by run rule with an RBI single to give the Falcons a 10-run win.
Blair Oaks had 13 hits in the game from 10 different players. In the last six plate appearances by substitute players, five of them reached base.
"They're in the game the entire time," Henke said. "They were cheering for our guys, showing some energy. We got to find a place for them to play, especially when we can get them in, and it's even better when they come off the bench and get a hit for us."
Mason Gipe had two singles and two RBI and Thomas Verslues added a pair of singles for Blair Oaks.
Nolan Hair, who batted in the No. 9 spot in the Falcons' first game of the season, worked his way up to the leadoff spot in the order in Tuesday's game. Hair went 2-for-2 with a single, a double, two runs scored and two RBI.
"He's put in his work and put in his time out in the field," Henke said of Hair. "He's doing the right things right now. We want a guy at the front of the lineup to start a spark, and he's doing it for us."
Matt Luebbert was 2-for-3 with two singles and one RBI to lead Warsaw (5-8, 0-4 Tri-County).
Blair Oaks (10-5, 2-0 Tri-County) will have one day of rest before playing Thursday at Fatima. The game used to help decide the top seed in districts, but because Blair Oaks made the jump from Class 3 to Class 4 this year, only bragging rights are on the line this time.
"It's always a tough battle between us and Fatima," Henke said. "It's been that way forever. It's a good rivalry game that no one wants to lose."
In the JV game, Kameron Morriss had a walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to give Blair Oaks a 4-3 win.
Cameron Hardwick had two hits for the Falcons, who improved to 2-2, and Gavin Bernskoetter struck out six batters in four innings.