Only once in his career had Warrenton senior Ben Stephens beaten St. Charles West prior to Tuesday.And the losses had been painful ones, serving as deciding factors between first and second place in the GAC Conference race.Each time St. Charles West had the Warriors’ number, going 4-0 the past two seasons.“It feels great,” said Stephens, who pitched Warrenton to a 12-2 victory. “They’ve laid it on us the last two years.”He struck out seven batters, walked two and gave up four hits, pitching the entire six innings.On the contrary, the Warriors were having their way at the plate, collecting 15 hits as a team.“Most of the guys brought their bats,” said Coach Eric Burle. “We hit the ball pretty well today and took good approaches at the plate. We got a lot of good hitter’s counts.”St. Charles West hung around until the fourth inning, when the Warriors’ bats began to come alive.“A couple innings my fastball control wasn’t all there, but I worked through that,” said Stephens.Warrenton cranked out three runs to offset a 2-2 tie, as juniors Jacob Abel, Brandon Purkaple and Austin Dixon delivered consecutive hits. Purkaple ignited the rally with a double to bring home Abel, and the Warriors’ presence at the plate intensified from that moment.“I think it was a matter of time before we started stringing together those hits,” said Burle. “All our guys were taking good approaches, so it was a matter of time before we started scratching across some runs.”Warrenton built on a 5-2 advantage in the bottom of the fith, scoring three more runs on the heels of a lead-off double by junior Hunter Capstick. Senior Taylor Duvel would add one of his three hits and would score along with Purkaple.St. Charles West made a pitching change, but their closer struggled to find the strike zone in the sixth inning, walking Warrenton’s last three batters to aid the Warriors in ending the game early.Only once did Stephens find himself in a predicament, with St. Charles West notching the game at 2-2 in the third inning after consecutive hits, including a double.“Ben almost no-hit these guys here last year, so the fact they put up one run right off the bat put some pressure on us,” said Burle. “But then these guys answering with two runs in the bottom half was pretty big.”But realizing it was a solid effort on the oppositions part moreso than his own blunders, Stephens powered through.“They got a double to tie up the game, and I knew it was off a good pitch,” said Stephens. “It wasn’t really a mistake. The kid just had a good piece of hitting against me. I stayed confident in myself.”“I think he battled,” added Burle. “He got behind the batters a lot early on. He found the strike zone better as the game went on and was being more aggressive.”Warrenton was without two of its starters, with juniors Dallas Johnson and Hunter Russell out for disciplinary reasons. Burle says he is proud of the way his team has worked through that circumstance, still managing to win the past two games.“We’re playing through a little bit of adversity being short-handed and some other guys are stepping up,” said Burle. “Capstick has had some extra-base hits, and Taylor has had some key hits the past few games."

Ben Stephens was named the Player of the Year in the GAC.

Derrick Forsythe photo.