While not yet a done deal, the Warrenton baseball team took a huge step in its quest for a Gateway Athletic Conference North title Tuesday. 

And it did it in a big way, defeating conference rival Winfield, 12-0, in five innings. 

Though it looked early on like Winfield might push across a run or two to open the game. 

Senior Robert Roggeman hit the first pitch of the game to the gap in right center for a double. A sacrifice got him to third. Warrenton pitcher Eli Ecton got Carter Bauer out on strikes before hitting Spenser Kaiser for the free pass. 

With two on and two out, a ground ball looked good enough for a base hit, but Warrenton second baseman Dylan O’Neal stretched out for a stop and got the ball to first in time to end the inning and the threat. 

It would be that kind of day for Winfield. Warrenton Head Coach Eric Burle was pleased with Ecton’s work on the mound, as well as the defense behind his senior ace. Ecton tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out seven and walking five.

“He’s been the ace of our staff and he’s been pitching well all season,” Burle said of Ecton. “He got in a little jam to start the game that he worked his way out of with a huge strikeout and a really great play by Dylan. It was huge for him to get out of that and the offense put up runs for him. After that, he just threw strikes and got some help from the defense.” 

Warrenton jumped on Winfield pitching right away in the bottom of the first inning. The Warriors went through the entire lineup in the inning en route to scoring eight runs. At the top of the batting order, Trent McGee used his speed to reach base on an infield single and later in the inning, the senior was hit by a pitch. He would score twice in the inning, once reaching home off an Eli Ecton walk and on an RBI single by senior Alex Vogt. Vogt had a pair of hits in the first inning alone, as did O’Neal. 

Burle was particularly pleased with the production of the entire lineup on a day that saw the Warriors get eight hits. 

“That was a big deal,” Burle said of the entire team contributing offensively. “We’ve had games this season where the top of the lineup is hitting well and then others where it is the bottom of the lineup. Today it really was a combination of both with everyone hitting well. There was a nice balance, I thought.”

But a good chunk of runs came off capitalizing on opportunities. Winfield pitcher Lane Webber handed out six free passes in one and one-third innings of work. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Warrenton added three more runs. Ecton drew yet another walk to start things off. Cody Herzog was hit by a pitch for the second time of the game. O’Neal singled to score Ecton. The senior had three RBIs on the day. Herzog later scored off a wild pitch. O’Neal scored on a McGee ground ball.

Warrenton pushed across another run on a sacrifice fly by Ecton that scored O’Neal. O’Neal tripled to dead center in the inning as part of his three hits. He also had two RBI in the game. Garrison Hibbs had a hit and 2 RBI, Braden Lawson, Herzog and Alex Vogt also had RBIs on the day.

The win helped the Warriors get to 11-5 on the year and remain undefeated in conference play. With a game against rival Wright City Friday and a match up with Francis Howell North to go, Warrenton seems to have the momentum going into the final stretch and into district play, which Winfield hosts in May.

“This win was nice because it was a conference game and we’ve got a bit of a rivalry going on with Winfield, Burle said. “There was a little bit of bragging rights going on because they were conference champs last year. It was really important to jump out to a lead early and that’s what we did.”