Photo by Kim North Brilliant Post 573 pitcher Dom Kempton swipes at Moundsville Post 3 baserunner Hayden Hughes during a play at the plate in Tuesday night’s American Legion game at Bill Mazeroski Field on the campus of Buckeye Local High School in Connorville. Hughes raced home on a wild pitch in a 10-0 Moundsville win in five innings. Looking on is Post 573’s Coop Baker.

CONNORVILLE — What a difference 24 hours makes on a baseball diamond.

One night after being held to a single hit in a 3-1 loss at St. Clairsville, Moundsville played a near-perfect game Tuesday in dispatching host Brilliant Post 573 by a 10-0 count in just five innings in its home-opener on Bill Mazeroski Field at Buckeye Local High School.

“We had a few more of our older guys here tonight, so that made a big difference,” Post 3 (2-5) manager Tim Koontz said. “Our pitchers did a great job. We hit the ball and we played pretty good defense.

“It was a good evening,” he added. “We’re getting better.”

The win was the second in as many meetings for Moundsville this season over Brilliant. Post 3 won 12-0 in the season-opener in Glen Dale.

Moundsville scored twice in the first inning and tacked on four more in the second to build a 6-0 lead. Hayden Hughes raced home on a wild pitch with the first run while Tommy Clegg doubled in Cain Martin to make it 2-0.

A pair of sacrifice flies and a trio of Brilliant errors keyed the second-inning. Hunter Coulter and Martin each collected an RBI with a fly out, while the two other tallies came across on 573 (0-4) miscues.

With a 6-0 cushion, Koontz and his staff opted to take starting pitcher Jacob Cisar out of the game despite the fact that he had retired the six hitters he faced. Cisar, the son of Magnolia legend and current John Marshall football and baseball head coach Mark Cisar, struck out two and threw just 21 pitches.

“We play Wheeling on Thursday and then have a big weekend in Bridgeport (W.Va.),” Koontz said of the reason they pulled their starter. “We’re just trying to save some arms and give some other guys a chance on the mound.”

Mason Markonich earned the win with one inning of relief. He, like Cisar, fanned two and didn’t allow a walk nor a hit. He needed just 11 pitches.

Post 3 added to its margin with three runs in the third, two coming on a Cisar smash just inside the bag at third for a two-run double. He then raced home from third on a wild pitch to up the count to 9-0.

Tommy Clegg drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth with two outs for the final run.

Post 573 avoided being no-hit when Dugan Dobrovich singled cleanly to center with one out in the fourth. He reached third after a two-out error and ensuing walk, but would get no further as Landon Boggs, the third Moundsville hurler, caught the next batter looking to end the threat.

“We had our chance right there,” Post 573 manager Mickey Nest said. “We just couldn’t get that big hit when we needed it.”

Other than that, whatever could’ve gone wrong for Brilliant did.

“Dom has pitched two games for us this year and he definitely deserved a better showing than he got. He’s a really good p[itcher,” Nest noted. “We’re not playing good defense or hitting the ball right now. You can’t expect to win too many games when you’re not hitting the ball or playing good defense.”

Kempton, who threw 132 pitches, struck out five and walked four.

Moundsville collected 10 hits — eight singles and two doubles — as Hughes had three one-base raps. Hayden Gaiser also singled twice. Half of the eight singles were of the infield variety. Post 3 was also aggressive on the bases with seven steals. Seven different players recorded at least one RBI.

Post 3 returns to action Thursday at Wheeling Post 1. Brilliant, meanwhile, plays at Toronto on Friday.