Warren's Aidan Morrison connects on a first inning double in a game against Erie at Legion Field, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Morrison's hit was one of seven in the inning as the Dragons scored 11 runs on their way to a 16-1 win over the Royals.

DUBOIS, Pa. – A 5-run sixth inning broke open what had been a 2-run game, and Warren baseball went on to defeat DuBois, 14-5, at Showers Field Friday.

The Dragons (2-1) jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but the Beavers (2-3) cut the deficit to 6-5 before the big sixth. Ryan Rafalski pitched five innings for the win and Aidan Morrison paced the offense with four RBI.

“It was good to get out and play another game,” Warren coach Rick Eaton said. “That’s a nice field, all turf thank goodness. It was a little cold but everybody was out there playing hard.”

Warren got things rolling immediately. Lance Baldensperger hit a leadoff single and Austyn Cummings doubled him home for a quick 1-0 lead. Mitch Grosch followed with a single and though Morrison grounded into a double play, Cummings was able to scoot home to make it 2-0 after the first half inning.

Hunter Loomis reached on an error to start the third and Baldensperger followed with a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Cummings singled in both runners to double the lead to 4-0. Grosch reached on an error and, two outs later, Rafalski helped his own cause with a 2-run single to put Warren ahead 6-0.

“We hit the ball early and got some runs,” Eaton said.

DuBois responded with a 4-spot of its own in the home half of the inning. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with one away. Eric Schneider drew a walk to bring in the Beavers’ first run, and a second scored on Jordan Frano’s ground out. An error brought in two more and suddenly the lead was down to 6-4.

The Beavers pulled even closer in the fourth. Cullen Corle hit a leadoff double and Heath Means sac bunted him to second. Dayne Bauman brought him in with a single. With Chandler Ho at the plate, Bauman stole second. Ho struck out, but a dropped third strike had the runners on the move. Instead of throwing to first, Morrison fired to third to get Bauman. Getting the lead runner proved critical as Garrett Starr followed with a single that would have tied the game. Instead, Rafalski was able to get Schneider to ground into a fielder’s choice and preserve the 6-5 lead.

“That one play by Morrison was a big time key,” Eaton said. “Getting that out at third kept them from tying it on the next hit.”

Grosch, Micah Passmore and Rafalski all drew walks in the fifth to load the bases with one out. Ben Berdine hit a sac fly to extend the lead to 7-5.

With one out in the sixth, the Dragons really went to work.

Baldensperger doubled, Cummings and Grosch walked to load the bases. Morrison nearly brought everyone in with a grand slam, but the ball hooked just foul. Two pitches later, he ripped a double into left to score a pair. Another run came in on Passmore’s ground out. Rafalski walked and Berdine and James Swanson hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 12-5.

“We’re getting to the point where we’re starting to see the ball well,” Eaton said.

Nick Hussey came on in relief and worked a clean sixth. Morrison hit another 2-run double in the seventh to close out the scoring.

Rafalski gave up five runs, three earned, through five innings on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Hussey pitched two scoreless innings of relief. He gave up one hit and struck out two.

“The pitchers threw good with the cold conditions,” Eaton said.

Morrison was 2-5 with two doubles and 4 RBI. Cummings was 2-3 with three RBI, Baldensperger went 3-4 with three runs scored and Grosch was 2-3 with four runs scored.

“We’re about where we want to be,” Eaton said. “We would like to have got that first game, but that’s baseball.”

Warren opens its Region 7 schedule next week with a pair of games at Legion Field. The Dragons welcome General McLane Monday and host Fort LeBoeuf Wednesday.

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Warren (14)

Baldensperger cf 4-3-3-0, Cummings lf 3-2-2-3, Arnold pr-lf 1-2-0-0, Grosch ss-2b 3-4-2-0, Morrison c 5-0-2-4, Wilson pr 0-1-0-0, Passmore 3b Rafalski p-ss 3-0-1-2, Borger pr 0-1-0-0, Berdine 1b 3-0-1-2, Swanson rf 4-0-1-1, Loomis dh 4-1-1-0, Totals 34-14-13-13

DuBois (5)

Ho lf-p 4-0-0-0, Starr 2b-ss 2-1-2-0, Schneider ss-p 2-1-0-1, Krise lf 1-0-0-0, Frano c 2-0-0-1, Swauger 3b 3-0-0-0, Newell 3b 0-0-0-0, Husted cf 3-0-0-0, Corle 1b 3-1-1-0, Pasternak 1b 0-0-0-0, Means rf 2-1-1-0, Bauman p-2b 3-1-2-1, Totals 25-5-6-3

Warren 204 015 2 – 14 13 2

DuBois 004 100 0 – 5 6 3

DP-Warren 2, DuBois 2. 2b-Baldensperger (W) 2, Morrison (W) 2, Cummings (W), Loomis (W), Corle (D). SB-Arnold (W), Grosch (W), Passmore (W), Bauman (D).

IP H R ER BB SO

Warren

Rafalski (W, 1-1) 5 5 5 3 2 4

Hussey 2 1 0 0 0 2

DuBois

Bauman (L, 1-1) 3 6 6 3 0 1

Schneider 2.2 4 6 6 6 1

Ho 1.1 3 2 2 1 0