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WHEELING -- If hitting is contagious, then everyone in Madonna's lineup caught the fifth-inning fever on Thursday evening.
The Blue Dons nearly batted around twice and plated 11 runs in the fifth frame to pull away for a commanding 15-4 five-inning triumph over Wheeling Central at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Field.
In the fifth-inning frenzy, Madonna supplied four hits and took advantage of seven walks and four Central errors.
"We put a lot of pressure on teams over the last two weeks," Madonna coach Jeff Baire said. "We've been getting pitched a certain way all year -- it was the same way last year -- and it took us until halfway through the season before we realized there is another side of the field and we should try to use that and we did that (Thursday). We hit a lot of balls into right field with our right-handed batters driving the ball to the opposite field and if we do that we'll give ourselves a chance in a lot of these games."
Perhaps the real dagger in the fifth was provided by Grant Wilharm who delivered a three-run triple that went all the way to the wall in left field, allowing the bases to clear and also setting the tone for the rest of the lineup.
"That's how Grant has been performing here of late," Baire said. "He's had some quality at-bats and we moved him up in the lineup to the leadoff spot because he's taking so many pitches and giving us good approaches. (Thursday) we saw the end result. He's just having a really good year because he's relaxed at the plate."
Also in the fifth, Brock Reinacher collected an RBI double, Luke Amaismeier and Brycen Hair each generated RBI singles and Coleton Littleton, Leelan Nagy and Hair all added bases loaded walks to drive in runs.
Leading up to the fifth, however, it was a nail-biter with Madonna leading just 4-3, but Central couldn't seem to get the big hit when it needed it most.
"It was a close game and we had good at-bats in that last inning," Central coach Jason Rowe said. "We had some base hits in the last inning and got into some full counts. We just have to do it from the first inning on and not just in the last inning."
The Maroon Knights struck first when a throwing error brought home Payton Hildebrand for a 1-0 edge after two stanzas.
The Dons answered quickly, nearly hitting for the cycle in the third as David Connors garnered an RBI triple, Littleton followed with an RBI double and Reinacher added an RBI single to give Madonna a 3-1 cushion.
Central pulled even in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run double to the right-center field gap off the bat of Seth Cover but Madonna grabbed the lead for good in the fourth when Hair beat out an infield single and later scored on an error.
Brayden Cover added an RBI knock in the fifth but it was too little, too late for the Knights.
"This is how we are capable of playing," Baire said. "It's just a matter of the guys really buying into what we are trying to do and (Thursday) we did that. We were also a lot more aggressive on the bases trying to maybe take some pressure off of some guys and that seemed to work out a little bit. We'll take that same approach moving forward."
Not to get lost amid Madonna's offensive production was the work put in by Amaismeier on the mound. He tossed five innings, struck out four and walked three, while stranding seven Central runners on base.
"He wanted the ball on Tuesday and I told him we had an idea of how we wanted to lay things out for the next week-and-a-half," Baire said. "He was very motivated to be out there (Thursday) and it definitely showed. He pitched phenomenally."
Connors, Reinacher, Hair and Amaismeier all enjoyed multi-hit games for the Dons, while Braydon Cover tallied a trio of knocks for the Knights and teammate Gary Hatfield added two.
Despite the setback, Central's focus quickly shifts to today's action as the Knights will take on top seed Steubenville Catholic at Vaccaro Field in Steubenville in the OVAC Class 2A Semifinals at 6 p.m.
"I haven't had an inning like (the fifth) since I've coached here," Rowe said. "But that's baseball and we told the guys to forget about it and come to play (today). Madonna is a great team and plays a tough schedule just like we do but (today) is a new day."