GLEN DALE — It hasn’t been the best of springs for Brooke baseball. The Bruins, however, launched their second season in grand fashion, blanking John Marshall, 4-0, in a Class AAA Region One, Section One opener Tuesday afternoon.

It was just the fifth win in 17 starts for Coach Ron Ujcich’s upstart charges. The Bruins dropped two regular-season games to the Monarchs.

Brooke has little time to relish the coveted win as the tournament trail places the Bruins against Wheeling Park this afternoon back in Glen Dale.

Jakob Bailey was nothing short of exceptional on the mound for Brooke.

The junior righthander went the distance, limiting the usually hard-hitting Monarchs to just four hits. He struck out one and walked one.

“Our pitching coach told him before the game they can’t beat us if you give up no runs. Jakob was fantastic,” Ujcich said. “He mixed up his pitches well and his strike-to-ball ratio was terrific.

“He was in total command. It was a great effort. It was also nice to get runs on the board early. It makes it easier to play with the lead.”

Junior hit machine Nick Langley opened the game by drilling a double down the left-field line. After a popout, Mason Thompson walked and Josh Shorts singled to load the bases before two walks pushed across a pair of Bruins runs.

Brooke made it a 3-0 reading in the third. Langley singled to start the frame before advancing on an error. Bailey aided his cause by delivering an RBI single.

Brooke tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on another Bailey RBI single.

“We told our kids that we needed to come out and shock them. After beating us twice in the regular season they didn’t expect much from us,” Ujcich said. “But we did come out early and shocked them. Our kids gave a great effort.”

John Marshall, which entered the game on a four-game winning streak, threatened once all day, that coming in the sixth inning. With two outs, Chas McCool and Joel Wise both singled. Bailey extinguished the rally by recording his lone strikeout.

“We are one of the best hitting teams in the valley, averaging about 13 hits a game. (Tuesday) we go through the motions,” John Marshall coach Mark Cisar said.

“Bailey pitched a real nice game. Give him credit.

“We have been playing well against good pitching. Now things get real tough for us. We have to win three straight games to advance. I am not going to go nuts about tonight’s game. We just have to let things happen next game.”

Grant Swift started on the hill for John Marshall.

After a somewhat rough start, he settled down and pitched effectively over six innings. He fanned four and walked four. Wiley Pratt hurled the seventh for the hosts, striking out two.

Langley led Brooke’s nine-hit attack with a double and two singles while also coaxing a walk and scoring twice. Bailey added two singles and two RBI.

Wise had two of John Marshall’s four hits.