WARDSVILLE - The Blair Oaks Falcons should've been exhausted after playing four baseball games in 30 hours, with only one day off before returning to the field Monday at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
Instead, the only thing that may have exhausted Blair Oaks was circling the basepaths 12 times in the third inning of a 14-0 win against the Fulton Hornets.
"We swung the bats betters," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. "We got good pitches to hit, we had a good approach and we were trying to stay in the middle of the field."
Blair Oaks took an early 2-0 lead through two innings against the Hornets. David Dell scored on a wild pitch in the first inning and Reid Dudenhoeffer drove in Hayden Salmons with a single in the second.
"I'm big on making sure we have a baserunner in every inning, putting a little pressure on them," DeMilia said.
As it turns out, Dudenhoeffer was just getting started.
The Blair Oaks freshman came to the plate twice in the third inning. The first time up, he hit a two-run single to left field. The second time at the plate, he lifted a triple to deep left-center field, which scored two more runs.
Dudenhoeffer finished 3-for-3 with five RBI to lead the Falcons.
"He's a grown man at 15 years old," DeMilia said. "He's got some power. He was really good today."
Also in the third, Levi Haney had a two-run single up the middle and Kamron Morriss flew out to deep center field, which also scored two runs.
Lane Libbert scored easily from third base, but as the Fulton center field slipped after making the catch, Haney was able to score all the way from second base to extend the Blair Oaks lead to 9-0.
"I've seen that a couple times," DeMila said of the sacrifice fly that scored two runs. "That was one that was hit well enough. Once I saw him slip, we were going to let Levi keep rolling."
All nine Blair Oaks starters in the batting order had at least one hit in the five-inning contest.
"We got hits with guys in scoring position," DeMilia said. "We ran the bases really well."
Libbert went 3-for-3 with three singles, while Dell had a single and a double. Morriss and Parker Bax each finished with two singles.
With a Blair Oaks pitching staff nearly depleted from the Capital City Invitational, Carson Wiebe delivered on the mound Monday. In four innings, he allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three.
"Carson has pitched really well for us," DeMilia said. " He's was able to keep his pitch count to a point where it was manageable and save our bullpen."
Blair Oaks nearly ended the game by run-rule in the third inning - a new rule implemented in high school baseball this season - but Fulton stranded the game-ending run at second base to end the inning.
"I'm actually happy we didn't, because it gave us a chance to get a few more at-bats," DeMilia said. "We got a couple guys in that don't play as much."
Blair Oaks (8-4), ranked No. 6 in Class 3, opens the three-day Columbia Tournament on Thursday. The Falcons begin pool-play against Kirksville at 4 p.m. at Hickman.
"We know we've got three really tough teams in that pool with Kirksville, Fort Zumwalt West and Hickman," DeMilia said. "We've got our hands full."
In Monday's JV game, Blair Oaks defeated Fulton 7-1 to improve to 4-1. Cole Jungmeyer had two hits and two RBI to lead the Falcons.