The rally caps in the top of the seventh proved ineffective for the Warrenton baseball team as St. Charles defeated the Warriors 5-3 in a Gateway Athletic Conference North contest Tuesday.

Down 5-3 with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Warriors got two straight base hits from freshman Garrison Hibbs and sophomore Alex Vogt, but St. Charles pitcher Drew Cannon got the pop out to end the rally and the game.

It was just another missed opportunity for Warrenton, who left 13 runners on base on the day.

Warrenton Coach Eric Burle said his team started the game listless and squandered away too many opportunities.

“We’re a better team than we showed today,” Burle said. “We just came out flat on the field and flat with our at-bats.”

The Warriors struggled defensively in the game, as well, committing two errors in the first two innings, which led to runs for the Pirates.

The offense started off hot to open things, though, with senior Hunter Capstick driving in Hunter Russell in the first inning to make the score 1-0.

That’s when the defensive issues started for Warrenton. The Pirates used two hits and an error in the field to push across three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

“I think we just got down and stayed that way,” Burle said. “We never really got back up. We needed a timely hit here and there and we just didn’t get it.”

Warrenton fought right back to tie the game in the top of the second inning when Russell drove in a run with his second hit of the game. The senior drove in Trent McGee, who was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Senior Jacob Abel’s double to right field scored Hibbs, who was also hit by a pitch to reach base.

Another fielding error in the bottom of the second helped the Pirates score another pair of runs and take the lead for good.

Both defenses settled down after the second inning and stellar pitching took over for both teams. After a strong weekend, Capstick came back and pitched well for the Warriors, allowing just five hits and striking out five in the loss. For St. Charles, Cannon scattered seven hits across a complete game. The junior struck out five in the win.

“Capstick pitched great,” Berle said. “He grinded out a game after pitching well in a complete game on Saturday. He came back on three days’ rest and had a great performance today. The defense wasn’t so great, but he grinded it out and gave us what we needed today.”

The Warriors face Liberty on Saturday.