The Wayne Juniors and their in-county counterparts from Wakefield met in the first of two matchups between the Wayne County foes Wednesday at Eaton Field in Wakefield.
Wayne broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fourth inning and pulled away late, improving to 3-0 on the season with an 11-4 win.
Wakefield used a pair of Wayne errors to plate two runs in the first inning. Solomon Peitz walked and came home on one error, while another one eventually allowed Ben Klen to score on a groundout by Parker Lehmkuhl.
Wayne got those two runs back in the second. Tucker Nichols' sacrifice fly brought the first run home, while a Wakefield error tied the game.
Wayne took the lead for good in the fourth when Edgar Ficke-Anderson singled home Justin Dean and later came home on a fielder's choice by Nichols.
Wakefield got back to within a run in the fourth when Klen's single scored Israel Gardea. Wakefield had two runners in scoring position, but Wayne got out of the inning without any further damage.
Wayne pulled away in the fifth with three runs, highlighted by a two-run double from Ficke-Anderson and an RBI single by Beau Bowers. A four-run seventh was highlighted by a two-run single from Tyler Gilliland.
Dean, Ficke-Anderson and Mason Lee each had three hits to lead Wayne's 15-hit attack. All three scored three times apiece and Ficke-Anderson had three RBI's. Gilliland and Bowers both had two hits. Tyler Lutt pitched five strong innings to get the win for 3-0 Wayne.
For Wakefield, Klen had two hits and two RBI's and Peitz had two hits and scored twice to lead their nine-hit effort. Julio Sanchez and Daniel Nuno both had two hits. Parker Lehmkuhl took the loss in relief of Sanchez as Wakefield's juniors fell to 5-3.
Wayne hosts Norfolk in action Thursday at Hank Overin Field 5 p.m., with a matchup between the Wakefield Seniors and Norfolk following at 7:30 p.m. The Wakefield Juniors host Homer as part of a Juniors-Seniors doubleheader Friday at 5:45 p.m. at Eaton Field.
