The Wright City baseball team both started and finished strong on Tuesday as the Wildcats cleared an important hurdle in Eastern Missouri Conference play.

The Wildcats (2-1) got past visiting North Callaway 8-6 behind a five-run first inning and a key two-run sixth.

The man in the middle of both outbursts was Fin Parra. Parra drove in four runs in the win. First, a two-run single was at the center of the opening inning, and then his two-run double in the sixth broke the 6-6 tie.

Coach Cody Bair said that seeing Parra excel is something he’s come to expect.

“Finn was especially clutch with runners in scoring position,” Bair said. “He’s a very mature player who competes beyond his years.”

Carter Pierson also added two hits and an RBI in the win for the Wildcats (2-1 overall, 1-0 Eastern Missouri).

“They both had great days at the plate, letting the game come to them,” Bair said. “It was good to start off conference play with a win. This was a great team win with contributions coming from a lot of different spots.”

Among those contributions were Pierson’s effort as the game’s starting pitcher and Logan Rose picking up the win, pitching the final inning in relief.

Bair said that while there are still things the team has to work on, it was a worthy effort.

“Pierson did a nice job on the mound in a big situation,” Bair said. “We didn’t play our cleanest game defensively, but he didn’t let that impact how he competed. We’d like to eliminate some walks but, overall, it was a strong effort. It was big for our bullpen to allow one unearned run over the final three innings. That gave us a chance to stay in control late.”

Wright City will next head to Wellsville-Middletown (0-1) for a game at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday before heading home to play a pair of games on Saturday against Warrenton at 10 a.m. and Hannibal (1-4) at 3 p.m.

WASHINGTON 3, WARRENTON 2 – A strong start wasn’t enough to carry visiting Warrenton to victory on Tuesday.

Junior Carter Martin tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the first inning to give Warrenton (1-3) the lead.

Next, junior Ric Standley led off the sixth with a walk, stole second and third and then scored on a single by sophomore Tate Aulgur.

In between, the Bluejays tallied two in the first inning and one in the second, with the big hit being an RBI double by Henry Vedder.

Freshman Easton Holt started the game for Warrenton and suffered the loss.

The Warriors return home at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday to host Hazelwood West (1-1).

WARRENTON, LIBERTY CHRISTIAN TRACK SEASONS OPEN AT MONTGOMERY COUNTY – The Warrenton girls and boys track teams showed well to open the season on Tuesday.

Three girls earned top four results as Claire Goldsmith was fourth in the 200 (28.88 seconds), Julianna Kinney was fourth in the javelin (95 feet-11.9 inches) and Makayla Witthaus was fourth in the shot put (33-2).

On the boys’ side, 10 Warriors earn a top-four finish.

Ty Thompson was third in the 100 (11.87); Antevion Pierce was third in the 200 (23.98); Landon Neace was third in the 800 (2:13.17); Mason Sanders was first in the high jump (6-4); Jordan Lopez was fourth in the triple jump (38-1); Marcus Greene won the discus (134-9) and the shot put (38-1) and Jake Kinney was fourth in the javelin (137-2).

Each of the boys' relay teams took a top-four finish.

The 4x100 (46.22) was second; the 4x200 (1:36.61) won the event and the 4x400 (3:42.35) finished third.

Liberty Christian finished the meet with one top-four result. Freshman Bristol Barron placed third in the triple jump (30-4).