Photo by Jake Olson: Martin County West starting pitcher Colsan Anderson rears up to throw during the first inning of Monday afternoon's game against G-F-W at the Fox Lake Area Sports Complex.

WELCOME – Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Kaden Rieke and Koufax Rose combined for a five-inning, three-hit performance to fuel its 12-1 victory over Martin County West during Monday afternoon’s game at Fox Lake Area Sports Complex.

The Firebirds scored three runs in the second, five in the fourth and four more in the fifth inning to enforce the mercy ruling. While they finished the game with five hits, it was the unforced Maverick errors that inflated the score more than it should have. MCW tallied 13 walks and eight errors on the afternoon.

“Defensively, we just have to be better. Plain and simple,” MCW head coach Jon Traetow said. “The scoreboard doesn’t directly reflect the game we played today. …We make those plays, and we are probably still playing baseball. It’s unfortunate, but we have to work on making the next play.”

Things started off relatively clean for Traetow’s opening pitcher, Colsan Anderson. If it wasn’t for the Mavericks’ first taste of the Section 2A bracket starting Thursday, the sophomore would have continued to pitch through the game.

But he did make the most of his lone inning of work. Picking up a pair of strikeouts and only allowing one hit, Traetow was impressed with the limited sample size Anderson showed.

“We needed him back on the mound and back into a routine, and he looked really good today,” Traetow said. “Loved the way he threw today. He attacked the zone and mixed in some off-speed at the right times. He did everything he’s supposed to.”

The first damage G-F-W put on the board started in the second inning. Caiden Loken entered the game on the mound, but faced challenges with a mix of walks and MCW defensive mishaps that led to three early runs.

Owen Swenson collected the first RBI hits of the afternoon with a rocket down the third base line, before a passed ball brought home Kellen Nachreiner. Easton Kuehl limited the damage at shortstop by throwing out Swenson on his advance to score.

Isaac Beckendorf made things 6-0 after his RBI single in the fourth inning extended the lead. Collin Hacker’s pop-fly dropped out of the glove of Kuehl one batter later to tack on another run.

Michael McCorkell helped score MCW’s lone score of the night in the bottom of the fourth after his initial walk set him up for a pair of steals to third base. A passed ball two batters later sent him home the rest of the way to get the team on the board.

G-F-W scored four more runs in the top of the fifth off a single from Hacker, a walk, a hit by pitch and a sacrifice flyout from Rieke. The Firebirds walked into the home half of the fifth with their ballooned, 12-1 advantage.