A.J. Puk has one of the sweetest left-handed swings in Iowa.

You could scour all the schools between the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri on the west and find none better.

He showed it Monday evening.

Puk lined a single to left field in the first inning, ripped a double to deep right-center in the second inning and smashed a long, towering homer to right field in the third as the Washington Warriors dumped Oskaloosa, 17-7, in five innings in a Memorial Day special at the Washington field.

Puk batted again in the fourth inning, needing a triple to hit for the cycle in just four innings, but popped up to third base in his final at-bat.

Puk has a triple this season, but the 6-foot-4 junior claimed he didn't realize he needed a three-base hit for the cycle. "No, I did not," he said. "I wasn't even thinking about that."

Puk is hitting a robust .667 in five games with 10 hits in 15 at-bats. He's collected two doubles, a triple, a homer and five RBIs for the Warriors.

"My swing felt really good in pre-game and it just carried over into the game and it felt really good," he said.

Puk is also a top left-handed pitcher with a fastball that climbs into the low 90's, but he's gotten off to a cautious start this year due to a tender left elbow. He's scheduled to be one of Washington's starting pitchers against Iowa City High in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Washington Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Puk thinks the Warriors have a chance to have a good season under new head coach Tony Lombardi. He likes what he's seen so far.

"It's gone really well," he said. "We've got a great coaching staff, and our players just want to come out and get better every day. It's gone really smooth so far."

Washington has a 2-3 record, but two of the losses were to top-ranked Kennedy (4-0) and second-ranked West Des Moines Valley (4-3 in eight innings). The Warriors nearly upset Valley this past Saturday at home.

"It gave us a lot of confidence," said Puk, who has commmited to the University of Florida. "They're No. 2 in the state, and we were with them the whole time. Almost had them."

Washington jumped all over Oskaloosa (1-3) and led 14-0 after three innings, thanks to good hitting and poor defense. Oskaloosa scored six runs in the fourth inning, but the Warriors finished the game by the 10-run rule in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Will Rings.

Noah Dostal went 2-for-4 for Washington with two triples. Zach Gillis, Matt Troendle, Jacob Hand and Rings also had two hits for the Warriors. Hand and Rings drove in three runs and Gillis had two RBIs.

Oskaloosa finished with seven runs, seven hits and seven errors.

OSKALOOSA (7)
Redlich, cf, 3 1 0 0, Rutledge, ss, 0 0 0 0, Schaffner, ph, 1 0 0 0, Tucker, c, 3 0 1 1, Pettyjohn, p, 1 0 0 0, Berthusen, p, 1 1 0 0, Van Maanen, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Cressley, ph/2b, 2 2 2 0, Green, rf, 1 0 0 0, Van Velhuizen, ph/rf, 2 0 1 0, Gile, 1b, 0 0 0 0, Lowry, ph/1b, 2 1 1 1, Van Dalen, lf, 3 1 1 2, Hance, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Boyle, ph/3b, 3 1 1 0. Totals 23 7 7 4.

WASHINGTON (17)
N.Dostal, ss, 4 2 2 0, Hogg, 2b/p, 2 2 1 0, Thorson, ph, 1 0 1 1, Puk, 1b, 4 3 3 3, Burdt, rf, 4 2 1 0, Gillis, 3b, 3 2 2 2, Troendle, cf, 3 1 2 1, Christensen, p/2b, 0 0 0 0, Dobbs, dh, 3 3 0 1, Hand, lf, 3 1 2 3, Rings, c, 3 0 2 3, Harrington, cr, 0 0 0 0. Totals 30 17 16 14.

Oskaloosa     000 61 -  7   7 7
Washington  752 12 - 17 16 3

Pettyjohn, Berthusen (2) and Tucker. Christensen, Hogg (5) and Rings. W - Christensen. L - Pettyjohn. 2B - Lowry, Van Dalen, Puk, Burdt. 3B - Dostal 2, Rings. HR - Puk. SB - Dostal, Hogg, Thorson.