After the first inning Thursday night, the Washington baseball team looked promising. Pitcher Noah Dostal sat Linn-Mar’s first three hitters down in order and then the Warriors came to the plate and scored one run on two hits.

That didn’t sit well with Linn-Mar. It especially didn’t sit well with Lion pitcher Justin Wyant. He used that first inning as fuel and didn’t allow a run the rest of the night, pitching a complete game four-hitter.

Along with some solid offensive and defensive support from his teammates, Wyant propelled Linn-Mar past the Warriors, 7-1, at the Washington baseball field.

Wyant got off to a slow start when the Warriors' first batter of the game, Robert Hogg, lined a single into right field. Hogg scored two batters later when Will Rings hit a soft shot just over the first baseman’s head for an RBI single.

But after Washington took the 1-0 lead, Wyant slammed the door shut. He allowed no more runs and only two Warrior hits for the remainder of the game, and both of those hits were infield singles.

“I was just trying to pump strikes and get on top of hitters,’’ he said. “I wanted to let my defense do the work.”

And his defense was working very well. The Lions committed no errors and had a handful of pretty defensive plays.

Lion shortstop Jack Strellner was a vacuum, chasing down any ball in his vicinity. With Washington down to its final two outs in the seventh inning, Warrior hitter Johnny Dobbs came to the plate with a runner on first. Dobbs hit a laser right to Strellner, who fielded it seamlessly and turned a game ending 6-4-3 double play with Lion second baseman Michael Redmond.

Wyant also had some major support from his bat-wielding friends. After the sluggish first inning, Linn-Mar recovered with ferocity and posted five runs in the second. With the bases loaded full of Lions, left fielder Nate Greve stepped to the plate and proceeded to clear them with a triple into center field.

Lion cleanup hitter Mitch Stickney led off the third inning with a solo home run over the left field fence, putting them up 6-1. The Lions added another run in the seventh.

Wyant applauded both the offensive and defensive effort from his teammates. “Our guys were sitting on those first pitches and just hitting the kinds of pitches that they want,” he said. “We also had pretty solid defense tonight. And we stayed strong even though we got down early.”

Wyant should be applauded right along with them. He pitched all seven innings, mixing a sharp curve with a quick fastball. He struck out eight batters.

Granted, it's a little easier to get through Washington’s lineup now because of the absence of slugger A.J Puk, who is sidelined with a thumb injury, but Wyant’s performance was stellar nonetheless.

Linn-Mar (8-6, 5-2) returns home to host Washington (3-12, 0-7) Friday night.

LINN-MAR (7)
Greve, lf, 4 1 2 3, Bogert, cf, 3 0 1 1, Redmond, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Stickney, rf, 3 2 1 1, Stroschein, 3b, 3 1 1 0, Banks, c, 3 0 0 1, Blackford, dh, 2 1 0 0, Roth, dh, 1 0 0 0, Wyant, p, 0 0 0 0, Stolley, 1b, 2 1 1 0, Strellner, ss, 3 1 0 0. Totals 28 7 6 6.

WASHINGTON (1)
Hogg, ss, 2 0 1 0, Dostal, p, 3 1 0 0, Rings, c, 3 0 1 1, Gillis, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Burdt, rf, 3 0 1 0, Troendle, cf, 3 0 1 0, Rogers, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Thorson, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Dobbs, dh, 3 0 0 0, Hand, lf, 0 0 0 0.  Totals 25 1 4 1.

Linn-Mar          051 000 1 - 7 6 0
Washington     100 000 0 - 1 4 2

Wyant and Banks. Dostal, Troendle (4) and Rings. W - Wyant. L - Dostal. 3B - Greve, Stroschein. HR- Stickney. SB - Stickney, Stroschein (2), Stolley.