Nate Hare is congratulated by his teammates after scoring one of the Warriors 18 runs.

SYRACUSE – There was no fooling around by the Wawasee baseball team on April 1.

The Warriors welcomed in Bethany Christian for the 2014 season opener and soundly defeated the Bruins with the mercy rule in the fifth inning by a score of 18-0.

“This was just one of those all-around team efforts tonight,” said Wawasee head coach Brent Doty. “Every guy on this team stepped up and did his part today, which is exactly what you want to see to start the season.”

The win is the first career victory for Doty who is in his first season as the Warriors skipper.

While the 18 runs were certainly a marvel in their own right, a prolific offense is not very good if the defense is not behind it.

Wawasee’s defense was excellent from start to finish on Tuesday night. Gage Fannin started the game and pitched four scoreless innings. Fannin’s best work was done in the third when his team held a 3-0 lead but Bethany was threatening with the bases loaded. Fannin needed just one out to get out of the jam and did just that as a routine grounder that was fielded and taken care of by shortstop Gage Reinhard.

Jordan Currie relieved Fannin in the top of the fifth and secured the shutout for the Warriors with his solid inning of work.

Offensively every Warrior seemed to get in on the action. Nate Hare, Nate Prescott and Andrew Milligan all scored one or more runs while Prescott and Hare each had an RBI. Colin Beer took advantage of his first career at-bat and drove in three of his own runs. Kurtis Liston also drove in three and scored twice for Wawasee.

The Warriors main objective now is to keep the hot bats going into Wednesday night when Wabash comes to town. The Apaches are slated as one of the top teams in the Three Rivers Conference in 2014 and will provide a true measuring stick for Wawasee (1-0).

“We just have to get back on the horse,” stated Doty. “We have to continue to do the little things right just like we did tonight. Run the bases well, throw strikes when we’re on the mound, play good defense and swing the bats again. I

“t’s all about timely hitting. We got runners on base and had a few guys step up and get them home with some timely hits. We need that tomorrow.”

Weather permitting the first pitch for the Wabash game will be at 5 p.m. at Warrior Field.