It was one of those games where everything was working as it should. 

And headed into a big week of baseball, the Warrenton Post 122 seniors couldn’t be happier in defeating Sullivan 6-0 in district play on Sunday.

The victory brought Post 122 to 4-4 on the season and 2-4 in district play, but Manager Scott Butler feels his team is definitely on the upswing.

“You can’t look past the fact that we have the whole team back,” Butler said. “It’s sometimes hard to pick and pull players and move them around, but we had our full team back today and it definitely showed. You put up a zero in the top of the first and tack on three in the bottom of the first, it was just a complete effort in all facets. That’s how you play baseball.”

Warrenton got on the board right away in the bottom of the first inning when Troy Muse drew a walk to lead off the inning. After Muse advanced to second on a stolen base, James Dotson ripped an RBI single up the middle to put Warrenton up 1-0. 

Hunter Capstick scored Dotson on a triple and Chase Jones’ groundout scored Capstick. 

Run production from Muse, Capstick and Dotson is hardly surprising as the trio’s stats indicate – Capstick is hitting .455 on the year, Muse carries a .429 average into this week and Dotson leads the way with a .524 batting average.

Not only that, but according to Butler, the top of the batting order really likes to be aggressive on the base paths. Muse stole two bases on the day to get himself into scoring position.

“That’s how we won a lot of games last season, honestly, just putting pressure on defenses,” Butler said. “We have four, five, maybe six guys who have speed to burn. I’ll put them up against anybody in a race because those guys are so fast. It’s almost a friendly little contest they have going to see who is the fastest. When you have speed like that, you can’t holster it. You have to unleash it and let it go.”

The three first-inning runs were all that starting pitcher Chris Garrett would need.

He tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball, scattering just four hits on the day while striking out three.

Capstick and Michael Holmes tossed a hitless inning each in relief. 

For Sullivan, Zach McKinney took the loss, giving up five runs and striking out five in six innings of work.

Butler said Garrett’s strong outing was especially important as it saved the bullpen from work with a week of hot weather and games against New Haven, St. Peters and West ahead.

“That’s a big thing, to save our bullpen,” Butler said. “That’s big time. We’ve been trying to solidify our fourth starter. Chris (Garrett) in the past two outings has had two quality starts. He’s definitely worked his way into a starter’s role. You’re only as good as your four starters, and today he definitely proved he belongs there.”

Perhaps most encouraging for Post 122 was the defense – a zero in the error column is something the team hasn’t been able to achieve yet this season. Sullivan threatened in the top of the third with a man on second base, but Dotson gunned down the runner in an attempt to steal third. With two on in the top of the fifth, Garrett picked off a man leading off from first base.

Post 122 would get two insurance runs in the third off RBIs by Dotson and Capstick, and another in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Matt Dildine. 

Capstick went 2-for-4 on the day with an RBI to lead Post 122. Dotson went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Jones knocked in three runs.