Warren had other ideas.

The Dragons scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning and held on in the bottom of the frame to knock off the Lancers 10-7, holding on to first place in Region 6 in the process.

The big hits in the seventh inning came off of the bats of sophomore catcher Aidan Morrison and senior first baseman Braidy Blair. Morrison drove a two run-double to the fence in left to give the Dragons their first lead of the game and Blair added a two-run single later in the inning to add insurance.

“We had big hits with runners on base,” said Warren coach Rick Eaton. “That’s what we were lacking in that first game (against General McLane) and we got it today.”

The win was a much-needed one for Warren (12-3 overall, 8-1 in Region 6) during a pivotal week. It gave the Dragons a two game cushion over General McLane (9-4, 6-3), and kept them a game ahead of Harbor Creek (11-3, 8-2). Warren will also face region foes Corry (4-8, 2-7) and Fort LeBoeuf (5-4, 4-3) this week.

McLane was able to draw first blood, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Ethan Laird and an RBI groundout from Kyle Berger. The Lancers added single runs in the second and fourth innings as well and led 4-0 after four.

Warren was finally able to do some damage against Lancer starter Hunter Meyette in the top of the fifth. Lance Baldensperger led off the inning by drawing a walk and quickly moved to second after a single by Matt Leonard. After Meyette was able to get two outs, Baldensperger and Leonard scored on a line-drive single to left by Colby Johnson.

McLane was able to get a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but the Dragon offense stayed hot, this time against Laird, who came on in relief. Seth Baldensperger singled to begin the inning and Morrison worked a walk. Nate Betts followed with a single to load the bases, and Lance Baldensperger walked to force in courtesy runner Evan Tremblay. Leonard then scored courtesy runner Ryan Arnold with a groundout to make the score 5-4.

Adam Irwin relieved Seth Baldensperger in the bottom of the sixth, and quickly set down the Lancers to set up Warren’s big seventh inning.

The seventh began with Johnson doubling to center and Austyn Cummings drawing a walk. Seth Baldensperger was then hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Morrison who worked a full count before driving a pitch over the left-fielder’s head to score Johnson and Cummings and give Warren a 6-5 lead.

Warren wasn’t done yet, as Nate Betts drove in a run when his ground ball was mishandled to make it 7-5 and Lance Baldensperger reached base with his third walk of the day. Leonard then drove in a run with a sac fly to make it 8-5,and Blair lined a single to center to score Betts and Baldensperger and make it 10-5.

“This was a team effort,” Eaton said. “We had 13, 14 guys out there doing their job today. We’ve been preaching all year that we have to work together and take advantage of those opportunities when you get them and we were able to do that.”

All six of Warren’s runs in the seventh came against Jon Solberg, who had not allowed a run all season prior to Monday.

Seth Baldensperger returned to the mound in the bottom of the seventh in an attempt to close out the game, but McLane was able to score two runs to make it 10-7. That was all the Lancers would get, as Johnson relieved Baldensperger and got three quick outs to close the game out and pick up the save.

“He (Johnson) did a real nice job to finish it up,” noted Eaton.

The Dragons return to action right away, traveling to Corry today.

“Right back at it,” Eaton said.

– – –

WARREN (10)

Knapp, 2B, 5-0-0-0, Johnson, LF-P, 4-1-2-2, Cummings, DH, 3-0-0-0, S. Baldensperger, P, 3-1-2-0, Morrison, C, 3-0-1-2, Betts, SS, 4-1-1-1, L. Baldensperger, CF, 1-2-0-1, Blair, 1B, 4-0-1-2, Grosch, 3B, 1-0-0-0, Leonard, 3B, 2-1-1-2, Balas, RF, 0-0-0-0, Arnold, CR, 0-2-0-0, Tremblay, CR, 0-2-0-0, Irwin, P, 0-0-0-0. Totals: 30-10-8-10.

GENERAL MCLANE (7)

Carrier, 3-0-0-1, Teed, 0-0-0-0, Berger, 2-0-0-0, Jay, 3-1-1-1, Solberg, 2-1-2-0, Meyette, 3-1-1-1, Fay, 4-1-1-0, Laird, 4-2-4-2, Johnson, 0-1-0-0, Cannon, 4-0-0-1, Peyton, 3-0-0-0. Totals: 28-7-9-6.

Warren 000 022 6 – 10 8 2

GM 210 110 2 – 7 9 2

2B- Johnson (W), Morrison (W), Solberg (G), Laird (G). 3B- Fay (G). WP- Irwin, LP- Solberg, SV- Johnson.

– – –

JV: Warren 11, General McLane 7

Evan Tremblay had a pair of RBI as Warren took advantage of seven GM errors en route to an 11-7 win.

Chris White tossed two scoreless innings on the mound, with Tyler Gustafson earning the win. White, Gustafson and Ryan Arnold had two stolen bases each.