WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Before Thursday's game, Blair Oaks coach Travis Henke emphasized to his players he wanted them to be aggressive at the plate.
Two pitches into the bottom of the first inning, it was evident that message was received.
Ethan Rackers doubled on the first pitch he saw and Ryan Paschal followed with an RBI single, setting an aggressive tone in Blair Oaks' 9-3 win against the Versailles Tigers in Tri-County Conference play at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"I told the guys we were going to be aggressive," Henke said. "Hit-and-run, bunt, we're going to do everything."
Being aggressive at the plate wasn't always easy for the Falcons, who drew 10 walks in six innings against three Versailles pitchers.
"They did a good job of being aggressive, yet being patient with the pitch selection," Henke said. "They were aggressive when it was in the zone, and they laid off the pitches that were out of it."
Blair Oaks scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, picking up two runs in the second and another in the third to lead 4-0.
Garrett Welschmeyer added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth, hooking a drive down the left-field line inside the foul pole for a two-run home run. His second homer of the season extended the Blair Oaks lead to 6-0.
"He hit it well," Henke said. "We've been preaching to him the last few weeks just to stay back, and then you see what it does when he does stay back."
Paschal and Welschmeyer had back-to-back RBI hits in the fifth to make it an eight-run game.
The Falcons appeared to be on the verge of ending the game early by run rule, but Versailles shifted the momentum in the sixth inning.
The Tigers took advantage of an error to start the inning, then collected three straight RBI hits. Clyde Hoxworth singled, Gage Smith doubled and David Connor singled to drive in all three Versailles runs and cut the Blair Oaks lead to 8-3.
"It took a couple times through (the batting order), but our guys finally caught on," Versailles coach Jason Ollison said. "We have good hitters, it's just a matter of making sure that we have that confidence, and go out there and believe we can do it."
Colton Hoelscher picked up the win for Blair Oaks, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out seven in six innings. Hoelscher retired the first eight batters he faced and didn't allow a runner to reach third base until the sixth inning.
"He did a very good job tonight," Henke said. "He commanded the strike zone for the most part. He fell behind a few batters, but for the most part, he did a good job of throwing strike one and then working ahead."
Thomas Verslues pitched a scoreless seventh inning, striking out one batter.
Welschmeyer went 2-for-3 to lead the Falcons at the plate, adding a single in the fifth. Hunter Herigon came off the bench in the same inning to hit an RBI double, his first varsity hit of the season.
For Versailles, Smith had one single, one double and one RBI, while Connor had a pair of singles and one RBI.
Connor pitched two-plus innings to start the game on the mound, allowing four runs on four hits. Kade Marriott threw the next three innings and had one strikeout, while Tyler Dobbins pitched the sixth and allowed one run on one hit.
"I was proud of our guys," Ollison said. "We fought hard the whole game and we're running freshmen and sophomores out there in a lot of key positions, and we have guys on the mound who don't normally pitch for us because of other games that we've had this week and games we have coming up this weekend."
Versailles (3-10, 0-5 Tri-County) will play its next two games against Class 1 teams, facing Jamestown and St. Elizabeth in games Saturday at Jamestown.
Blair Oaks (12-7, 4-0 Tri-County) goes on the road Saturday to play Class 3 No. 2 South Callaway. The Bulldogs (20-3) had won 15 straight games before losing to Fatima on Tuesday.
"They're a great ballclub," Henke said. "Hopefully we can come out and play the way we can play and have a good game with them."