Coach Shannon Wells’ inability to win a coin toss may have aided his team’s success rate over the weekend.Wright City tore off four straight wins against quality opponents to open the season as the champions of the Four Rivers Classic.Each time the Wildcats found themselves playing the role of visitors, despite hosting three of the games.“Getting to bat first ended up paying off for us,” said Wells. “We got out to early leads and put pressure on them to challenge them at the plate.”And those early edges were necessary, as Wright City won the four contests by a combined five runs.“It was great to be able to win some close games, holding off our opponents’ rallies,” said Wells.The Wildcats concluded the tournament with a 7-5 win over Washington in the title game on Saturday.Wright City led 6-0 before the Blue Jays ever got onto the board.“What was key for us was they didn’t score their first run until the fifth inning,” said Wells. “We had a few errors that allowed them to creep back in.”Senior Adam North started on the mound, striking out three and giving up seven hits through six innings.“On Saturday, our pitching was really good,” said Wells. “We had a tendency to let teams close the gap on us a little bit, but our pitchers shut them down.”Sophomore Justin Bote closed, striking out two batters and allowing the only earned run of the game.As sharp as the pitching was, the Wildcats also received an exceptional hitting display from a pair of juniors.Kyle Tuepker batted a remarkable .643 with Chase Jones not far behind at .636.“Those guys were on fire at the plate,” said Wells. “As a team, we hit pretty well.”Tuepker went 3-for-4 with a double against Washington, while Jones was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.The duo was responsible for three hits and two RBIs in the Wildcats’ 5-4 win over Pacific earlier in the day, with Tuepker having delivered a home run.Senior Devin Telkamp pitched the first five innings, striking out two and giving up seven hits.“He threw really well for first part of game,” said Wells. “He threw a lot of strikes that they put into play, and our defense backed him up.”Wright City jumped out to a 5-0 lead, scoring two runs in the first inning and three more in the fifth.“Our defense played a tight game, only giving up one error,” said Wells.Junior Donovan Mozee finished on the mound, shutting down Pacific after it scored two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.He had showed his power at the plate the previous night, hitting a home run in the Wildcats’ 9-8 win over Owensville in a game that was continued from Wednesday. Rain had postponed the contest after four innings, with Wright City leading 4-2 with runners on first and second base.“They switched to a pitcher that was throwing harder, and that benefited some of our guys,” said Wells.Trailing 9-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Dutchmen fired back with a four-run rally.“Fortunately, we were able to shut them down,” said Wells. “I was proud of the way our guys played this weekend.”Wright City tested its depth on the mound, cycling through seven different pitchers over four games, including a tournament-opening 4-3 win over Borgia last Monday.Tuepker collected a team-high nine hits during the tournament, while Jones delivered seven hits.Bote and Telkamp each had five hits.Mozee was responsible for a team-high five RBIs.TUEPKER SWINGING HOT BATDerrick Forsythe photo.