NABF College World Series: T3 Warhawks get right to work after long wait, pound Muffleheads in tourney opener

SANDUSKY — The T3 Warhawks had to wait until the end of the day to finally take the field at the National Amateur Baseball Federation College World Series. It was worth the wait. The Avon-based squad jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning and never looked back in a 12-2 five-inning victory Thursday over the Erie Muffleheads on the opening day of the tournament at Sports Force Parks. "This is good competition for these players before they go back to school," Warhawks coach Don Bliss said. "They'll have a couple of weeks breaks and then it's on to their college fall seasons. This is good competition for them to end the season. "I'm very proud of these guys." The Warhawks (19-7) resume play today at 8 a.m. against the Wyoming Nationals, then are back in action at 10:30 a.m. against the SAYO Grays. Pool A play concludes for the Warhawks at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning against the defending tournament champion Grand Rapid Brewers, with the top two teams in the A and B pools meeting for semifinal action at 1 p.m. Saturday. The championship game set for 8 a.m. Sunday. "We play against that Wyoming Nationals team, which beat the team that won the tournament last year, so it should be a good battle," Bliss said. "Then we play a team from New York, and that should be a good battle as well." Alex Stegman led the way with two hits, including a double, and three RBIs, while Alex Vaughan went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Alex Jones, an Amherst High School grad, drove in a run with two singles. "It was a good day," Stegman said. "This is our last tournament of the year and we have to have fun and play the game hard." Mason Decker also ripped a solo home run in the second and drove in two, while Elyria's Deuce Knapp added an RBI double in three trips to the plate. "The entire lineup contributed today," Bliss said. "I think the offense has really started taking off since we put Mason Decker in the nine hole. He adds some juice. I got the idea from his college coach, who put a power hitter at the bottom of their lineup and it seemed to work for them. I figured I have Eric Colaco, who was an NCAC (North Coast Athletic Conference) all-conference player and Denison's all-time steals leader, leading off. He gets on base almost 50 percent of the time, so I thought to put Mason in that nine hole and see if he gets to see some more fastballs. "I think he has three home runs this year, and his bat is starting to come alive in that nine hole. They just can't think there's a No 9 hitter up." Ben Bliss, the coach's son, went four innings for the win, allowing a run on two hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks. "I just focus on not walking people because walking people just puts you in a tough situations," Ben Bliss said. "You have to work harder and you don't want to work harder, you want to work ahead in counts. Stay loose, stay confident and fill the zone." The Warhawks got off to a quick start with three runs in the top of the first. Colaco opened the game with a single, stole second and went to third on a balk before trotting home on a Vaughn single. Knapp was already on second after a walk and the balk, then came home on Jones' single with Vaughn adding a stolen base and racing home on a grounder from Stegman. Decker hit his solo home run to lead off the second after the Muffleheads got on the scoreboard with a lead-off home run from Bryce Dreher in the bottom of the first. "He put a good swing on the ball," Ben Bliss said. "As a pitcher, I'd rather give up a bomb than walk people. I can't stand walking people so I tried to focus on filling up the zone, letting my defense work." The Warhawks tacked on three more in the third with Vaughan leading off with a double and advancing to third on a bloop single from Jones. Vaughan came home on a single from Stegman, with Jones scoring on an error at third. Stegman stole second, went to third on the error that scored Jones and then came home on a wild pitch from losing pitcher Sean Brock. After a scoreless fourth, the Warhawks put the game away with a five-run outburst in the fifth. Relief pitcher Michael Barkman allowed two walks and an RBI-double to Stegman before being lifted for Julius Robinson. Robinson hit the first batter he faced, gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Decker, hit Aidan Shoop and gave up two runs on a balk and an RBI double to Knapp. The Warhawks also pulled off a double steal in the inning. The Muffleheads threatened in the second when they put runners on second and third with one out, but Bliss got the next two batters on strikes. Bliss also allowed two runners in the third on a single from Noah English and a walk to Connor Shimek, but fanned Ben Mayse and got Austin Adelman to ground to third to end the threat. William Rouse finished the game on the mound for the Warhawks, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. "Ben did a great job," Don Bliss said. "He gave up that second-pitch home run, but he settled down and shut them down. William needed to get some work today, which is why I put him in." Contact Dan Angelo at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.