Saturday’s doubleheader yielded a substantially different outcome for the Warrenton baseball team than it had against the same opponent a year ago.The Warriors split with Sullivan, avenging a pair of lopsided defeats.“Considering how we handled them last year, it was a definite improvement,” said Coach Eric Burle.This year’s team is proving to be more resilient than in recent seasons, off to a 6-4 start thanks to several rallying victories.“The kids are showing a lot of character after falling behind,” said Burle. “Sometimes these come-from-behind wins pay off more than the blowout wins.”Warrenton needed another pair of rallies over the weekend, with one comeback falling short. However, the Warriors opened the day with a 5-2 victory with junior Ben Stephens tossing a full seven innings on the mound. He struck out six and walked one batter, allowing three hits and one earned run.Sullivan jumped out to an early edge, scoring a run during its first trip to the batters box.The Warriors countered, pushing across a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Hunter Russell and Brandon Moeller led off the inning with singles, while Dallas Johnson and Corey Eckenfels reached by walk. Luke Darity reached base on an error to score the second run.The Eagles scored an unearned run in the top of the second before both teams suffered through three scoreless innings.“After that second inning Ben settled down and put them down in order three of next six innings,” said Burle. “He didn’t allow a lot of base runners.”Russell again set the tone by reaching base in the lead-off spot in the fifth, while Stephens walked. Moeller then bunted to load the bases, and Eckenfels provided a single to drive in two runs.“We have the ability to score runs, but the timeliness is what we’re looking for,” said Burle.The Warriors had just enough timely hits in the opener but not enough to dig out of a rut in the afternoon game.Senior Airk Rader started on the mound, struggling to get ahead of batters early.

Warrenton sophomore Dallas Johnson connects on a hit during the Warriors' doubleheader against Sullivan on Saturday.

Derrick Forsythe Photo.