WEIRTON — The Weir baseball team needed to bring its A-game against Wheeling Central, however, that was easier said than done.

Wheeling Central tallied five runs in the top of the first inning, and the Maroon Knights did not look back en route to a 10-1 victory Wednesday evening up at the Weir High Baseball Field.

“They are a pretty good team,” Weir (5-8) head coach Dave Cowden said. “They put the bat on the ball. Those weren’t cheap runs. Unfortunately, one of their players ran over our catcher, and both players were thrown out. They are a pretty good team. Their pitcher did a good job. We couldn’t put the bat on the ball. We couldn’t put pressure on the defense to make plays.”

After falling behind by five runs, the hosts tallied a run in the second, however, the boys from Ohio County tallied three more in the fifth to break the game open at 8-1 before tacking on a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to complete the scoring.

Both teams used two pitchers.

Jake Brown started on the mound and picked up the win for the visitors. Brown struck out eight and walked four in his six innings of work. Seth Wodusky came on to pitch the seventh. He struck out two without walking a batter.

Mathew Geer took the loss for Weir. Geer struck out two while walking three in his 4 2/3 innings of work. He was replaced with two outs in the fifth by Grant Upright. Upright pitched the final 2 1/3 innings striking out two and walking two.

The Maroon Knights outhit the Red Riders, 14-2. Wheeling Central tallied five extra-base hits – four doubles and one triple – in the ballgame.

Offensively for Wheeling Central, Clay Petry produced a single, a double and three RBI, Zayne Rosnick recorded a single, a triple and an RBI and Brown ended up with a single, double and an RBI. Also, Brayden Cover delivered a double and two RBI, Kade Koroneus collected a single and an RBI and Brady Ernest added three singles. Finally, Matt Criniti finished with two singles.

Geer recorded a single and an RBI for Weir, while Nico Glass singled.

Brown led off the top of the first with a double to right, and he scored on a Rosnick’s triple to center to give Wheeling Central an early 1-0 lead. Lipinki followed with a double to score Rosnick to increase the Maroon Knights’ advantage out to 2-0. Three batters later, Petry doubled home a pair of runs to extend his team’s advantage to 4-0 before he scored on a double by Cover to make it a 5-0 ballgame.

“It’s tough to come back,” Cowden said. “Their pitcher found his groove. He was throwing 2-0 sliders for strikes. He is a good pitcher and that is a good team. We are going to have to get better.”

Glass led off the bottom of the second with a single for Weir, and he scored on a two-out single by Geer to pull the Red Riders to within 5-1.

The home team hung around for the next two innings before the Maroon Knights plated three runs in the fifth to take control. Petry singled home a run, Cover brought home another on a fielder’s choice and the third run in the inning scored on an error to make the score, 8-1.

Koroneus singled home a run in the sixth, and Brown brought home a run with a base hit in the seventh.

Weir is scheduled to play Berkeley Springs at 5 p.m. Friday at home.

Wheeling Central is scheduled to play at 6 p.m. Friday night on the road against Berne Union.

Wheeling Central 10, Weir 1

Wheeling Central 500 031 1 – 10 14 2

Weir 010 000 0 – 1 2 2

WHEELING CENTRAL (4-2): Brown WP (6IP, 8K, 4BB), Wodusky (1IP, 2K, 0BB) and Lipinski. Brown S, D, RBI; Rosnick S, T, RBI; Lipinski D, RBI; Ernest 3S; Koroneos S, RBI; Petry S, D, 3RBI; Cover D, 2RBI; Criniti 2S.

WEIR (5-8): Geer LP (4 2/3IP, 2K, 3BB), Upright (2 1/3IP, 2K, 2BB) and DiMatteis. Geer S, RBI; Glass S.