Nichirin (3-3, 3-2) notched their second straight win on Monday night when they defeated Marshall Medical Center 8-0 in five innings at Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Park.

MMC (3-3, 2-3) had defeated Nichirin 8-6 in their previous encounter on May 23, but the defending champs got the better of Marshall Medical Center this time around and built a 4-0 lead through the first three innings of play before crossing home plate four times in the bottom of the fifth to bring the mercy rule into effect.

Second place

With Monday's win, Nichirin grabbed sole possession of second place in the Marshall County Babe Ruth league standings while Marshall Medical Center fell to third.

Starting pitcher Stuart Warner turned in a strong effort on the mound for Nichirin and racked up eight strikeouts in five innings of work while limiting MMC to just three hits and three walks en route to earning the victory.

Nichirin also finished with only three hits in the contest, but were aided by seven walks and five Marshall Medical Center errors. Jay Howard led Nichirin at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, while Chase Karaczewski added a double and 2 RBI.

Despite registering six strikeouts over three innings, MMC starting pitcher Ethan Poteete suffered the loss after allowing four runs, only one earned, on one hit and four walks.

Trent Richardson doubled to account for Marshall Medical Center's lone extra base hit of the contest, while Poteete and Knox Barnes both singled.

No lead

MMC had a chance to take the lead early in the game when they put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the first inning thanks to a Barnes single and a double by Richardson, but Warner struck out the next Marshall Medical Center batter to snuff out the threat.

Nichirin took advantage of some shaky defense by MMC in the bottom of the first and pushed across two runs in the frame with the help of two walks, two errors, a RBI fielder's choice by Tata Davis, and a passed ball to grab a 2-0 lead.

Warner then worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the third with the aid of a 5-3 double play , before Nichirin tallied two runs in the bottom half of the inning on the strength of a leadoff single by Howard, two errors, a Jacob Autry walk, a passed ball, and a balk to open up a 4-0 advantage.

Out of a jam

Marshall Medical Center had another chance to get on the board in the top of the fourth and put runners on second and third with two outs, but Warner escaped the jam by fanning the next MMC hitter to keep the shutout intact.

In the bottom of the fifth, Nichirin delivered the knockout blow by plating four runs in the frame to bring the mercy rule into effect. Following a walk by Josh McKnight, Howard doubled and Warner drew a walk to load the bases with one out. After McKnight scored on an error, Tata Davis drew a bases loaded walk to make it 6-0. Karaczewski then laced a two-run single into right field to cap Nichirin's 8-0 victory.