WHEELING — For the second day in a row, Wheeling Post 1 has tamed the same two opponents twice to take charge of the 37th annual Beast of the East’s 19U Blue Division. Not one of the four contests have gone a full seven innings.

Wheeling (17-15-1) dispatched JM Monarchs Travel Ball by a 7-2 count Friday morning, before ripping Clarington (Canada) by a 14-2 count in an afternoon matchup on the sun-scorched artificial surface at Patriots Field on the campus of Wheeling Park High School. The first game was stopped at the 2-hour time limit after six innings, while the second contest was halted by the mercy-rule following just four frames.

Post 1 is back in action Saturday when it meets Clarington for the third time in as many days at 10:30 a.m. It then plays US Elite WV at 1 p.m. The semifinals and championship game will be played on Sunday.

Wheeling 7, JM Monarchs Travel Ball 2

While Post 1 didn’t have its hitting shoes on, it did take advantage of what JM Monarchs gave them: six base-on-balls and four hit-by-pitches.

“Obviously, we’d like to see more hits on the scoreboard, but walks and bit-by-pitches are just as good as hits. They get you on base,” Post 1 manager Scott Castilow said. “We’re more than capable of manufacturing runs like that, and, there at the end, we did exactly that.”

Clinging to a 3-2 lead after five innings, Wheeling tallied four times in the top of the sixth to put the final nail in the coffin. However, it did so by being opportunistic.

Henry Anderson was plunked for second straight at-bat leading off. Jack Selmon followed with a walk before Ryland Robb’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners 90 feet. With two outs, Chris Upton walked to load the bases. Seth Cover was then hit with a pitch to force in a run and end Kayden Knapp’s day on the mound. With the runners moving on a full-count to Jaxon Murray, the Linsly senior-to-be greeted reliever Mason Markonich by crushing a ball to the gap in right-center for a bases-clearing single and some valuable insurance runs.

“That’s just Jaxon,” Castilow said of the sizzling Murray, who is hovering around the .600 mark. “We’ve relied on him all year. He’s the type of player that likes the big games. He rises to the occasion.”

“They always give us a good game,” Castilow said of the JM Monarchs. “They have a really good team this year and, for some reason, a lot of teams take them for granted. They have a lot of talent, so every time we play them, we know we’re going to get their best.”

With the loss, JM Monarchs Travel Ball falls to 2-1 in the Beast of the East’s Blue Division. It plays US Elite WV at 3:30 p.m. and Clarington Elite at 6.

“We feel we can play with anybody,” JM Monarchs’ manager Tim Koontz said. “That’s the second time this summer we’ve played them and we’ve given them a game both times even though we’ve come up short. They (Wheeling) have a good team.”

Post 1 right hander Rocco Digiandomenico put forth a gutsy effort on the mound. The recent Wheeling Park grad struck out nine, walked one and yielded six hits before tiring in the sixth after throwing 85 pitches, with 55 being strikes. Tucker Doty relieved and recorded the final two outs.

“Wow,” Castilow said of Digiandomenico’s performance. “He did a fantastic job. He threw strikes and that is what we ask of our pitcher.”

Wheeling led 2-0 after two innings as Zade Billings singled in Cover in the first and Jack Selmon was awarded home after a balk by Knapp, who fanned four, walked half-a-dozen and hit four batters.

“Kayden pitched really well today,” Koontz said. “They only had one big hit off of them. He did well.”

JM Monarchs cut the deficit in half in the third when Jesse McDowell singled, stole second and raced home on a two-out double by Lex Wilhelm.

Murray’s RBI triple in the top of the fifth made it 3-1 but JM Monarchs’ Hayden Gaiser sprinted home from third on a wild pitch to make it 3-2.

In addition to his double, Wilhelm also tripled.

Wheeling 14,Clarington Elite 2

The hitting shoes were laced tight in this outing as Post 1 collected 13. Murray missed hitting for the cycle by a home run and finished with three more runs batted in. Selmon drove in two with a triple, while Jake Brown ripped a two-run single. Upton, Cover, Billings, Reece Davis and Rocco Paolina all drove in a run. Ethan Clark and Donovan Jones evenly divided four singles.

Erik Blazier went the distance on the hill. The righty fanned four, walked two and allowed a mere three hits.