DOWN LOW — Madonna’s Mat Geer is greeted by head coach TJ Miller as he rounds third base after hitting a home run against Clay-Battelle on Thursday in Region 1 tournament action. - Aaron Petchal

WEIRTON — The Madonna baseball team continues to take care of business.

Madonna – the No. 1 seed – was held scoreless through the first two innings against No. 4 seed Clay-Battelle, however, the Blue Dons erupted for 12 runs in the next two innings en route to shutting out the Cee-Bees, 12-0, in five innings via mercy rule in a West Virginia Class A Region 1 Tournament Game.

“We started off a little slow,” Madonna (22-4) head coach TJ Miller said. “Our approach at the plate wasn’t very good, and that’s on me. We rebounded in the third. We got hot, and we stayed hot. We kept the foot on the throat mentality.”

With the win, Madonna has advanced to the final round of their ide of the bracket on Monday. A win would send the Dons into the Region 1 Championship Series.

“We’re locked in,” Miller said. “We’re playing with a lot of energy. We want to keep playing good baseball. I’m super proud of the boys.”

With the loss, Clay-Battelle (13-8) will now have to play an elimination game.

Jacob Lazear shook off a shaky start to recorded the win for the Blue Dons via a no-hitter.

“Jacob started off a little slow with his spots, but he got better as the game went on,” Miller said. “He pitched a heck of a game. Whenever Jacob is on the mound, we feel confident he is going to get the job done.

“Geer hit that three-run shot. That brought us some energy. There was no doubt about that one.”

Lazear struck out nine and walked three on his way to the win.

Madonna has allowed no runs on one hit in 10 innings of postseason play. The Blue Dons have not given up a run in more than 11 innings.

“Our pitching has been phenomenal,” Miller said. “Our four losses have been by two runs or less. Our pitching has been great, and we have been having solid at-bats. We have leaned on our pitching staff. They have been solid all year.”

Clay-Battelle used two pitchers in the game. Kooper Statler started and took the loss. Statler did not record a strikeout while walking three in his three innings of work on the mound. Trey Huggins came on to pitch the fourth. He struck out one and walked three.

The boys from Hancock County collected seven hits in the game – three of which went for extra bases.

Individually, Mat Geer recorded a three-run home run, Reed Wilharm tallied two singles and three RBI and David Connors contributed a double and two RBI. Also, Sam Brooks collected a single and two RBI, Reno Fuscardo finished with a single and an RBI and Maddox Bowen belted a triple.

The victors loaded the bases with no outs in the home half of the third, and Connors doubled home Bowen and Lazear to give them a 2-0 lead. Geer followed with his three-run bomb scoring Koleton Grishkevich, Connors and himself enabling Madonna to its advantage to 5-0. Another run scored on an error, and Wilharm brought home the seventh run of the inning with a groundout to second.

In the fourth, Fuscardo singled home a run, while Brooks and Wilharm each singled home two to account for the final score.

Madonna did have three runners make out on the bases – two at home and one at third.

“We did have some base-running mistakes,” Miller said. “That is something we will talk about at practice tomorrow. That is something we will work on. For the most part, we have done a good job on the bases. We had a couple of hiccups today, and that falls on me. As the head coach, I am fully responsible. We’re going to get right back at it.”

Miller has stressed taking care of the little things to his team all year long.

“That has been the message since Day 1,” Miller said. “We want to accomplish the little things. If we do that, the big things will take care of themselves.

“Like I said yesterday, the kids are locked in, the energy is up, there is a lot of excitement, but we are going to take it one day at a time, one game at a time. We are not going to overlook anybody. Hopefully, we can continue to play solid baseball.”

Madonna opened the postseason by shutting out No. 8 seed Paden City, 23-0, Wednesday at home. Also on Wednesday, Clay-Battelle defeated No. 5 seed Trinity Christian, 4-3, in extra innings.

Madonna 12, Clay-Battelle 0

Clay-Battelle 000 00 – 0 0 6

Madonna 007 5X – 12 7 0

CLAY-BATTELLE (13-8): Statler LP (3IP, 0K, 3BB), Huggins (1IP, 1K, 3BB) and Foley.

MADONNA (22-4): Lazear WP (9K, 3BB) and Wells. Connors D, 2RBI; Geer HR, 3RBI; Fuscardo S, RBI; Brooks S, 2RBI; Wilharm 2S, 3RBI; Bowen T.