WELLSBURG — A good start led to another big win for the Brooke baseball team.

Brooke – the No. 1 seed – recorded two runs in the bottom of the first inning against No. 4 seed North Marion, and the Bruins went on to defeat the Huskies, 5-2, in a West Virginia Class AAA Region 1 Tournament Game Thursday evening at home.

“The kids played really well,” Brooke (17-13) head coach Doug Costain said. “We were in a nice position. We were able to throw our 1A – Andrew Murdock. We have a 1 and a 1A. Andrew threw a complete game. He did what we asked. He threw strikes. He pitched really well, and for the most part we made the plays behind him.”

With the win, Brooke advances to the regional final.

“I’m hearing 1998,” Costain said asked when was the last time the Bruins made it to a regional final.

The loss ends North Marion’s season. The Huskies finish the season at 12-12.

Murdock struck out eight and walked one en route to picking up the win for Brooke.

North Marion used two pitchers. Oliver Lantz started on the mound, and he was saddled with the loss. Lantz struck out four without walking a batter in his 4 1/3 innings of work. He was replaced with one out in the fifth by Gavyn Owens. Owens pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking one.

The boys from Brooke County outhit the visitors, 10-3. The Bruins had nine singles and one triple in the win.

“We had 10 or 11 hits,” Costain said. “To answer your question, no, I cannot remember them all. Andrew Murdock got us started in the first with a triple. We scored two runs in a couple of innings.

“Honestly, we left a few runs out there. if we could have gotten a couple of timely hits, we could have had some big innings, and we could have had scored more runs.

“Defensively, we made the plays behind Andrew.”

Offensively for Brooke, Henry Anderson tallied two singles and an RBI, Murdock collected a single and a triple and Aiden Provenzano, Gino Provenzano and Garrett Moore all contributed a single and an RBI. Also, Zac O’Mery added two singles, and Niko Palavis singled once.

Ryder Bland delivered two singles for North Marion, Quinton Harbert tallied a single and Rylan Craig recorded the lone RBI for the Huskies.

The Bruins scored two runs in the first to take an early 2-0 lead.

In all sports, it is better to play with the lead than having to rely on making a comeback.

“No doubt about it,” Costain said. “As a coach, you want to score first every night. In the postseason, it is really important. It gives your kids a chance to breathe. It allows them to slow down. As a coach, it makes things a lot easier.”

North Marion answered with a run in the third to cut its deficit down to 2-1, however, the victors plated two more runs in the third to increase their advantage to 4-1. Both teams scored a run in the fifth to complete the scoring.

“This is all about the kids,” Costain said. “It’s about the team. We were playing really good baseball. We are looking to build off of this. It is really nice for the kids.

“We are a young team. We only have three seniors. Garrett Moore had a big hit for us. Noah McMahon did a good job in the field. Hank Anderson had a big hit for us. He does a good job for us at third base. He made some great plays.

“We started two freshmen tonight. The rest of the kids are juniors and sophomores. Blake Bennett made a Savannah Bananas catch to end the game. He also did a backflip on the warning track.”

Brooke opened the postseason by defeating North Marion, 2-1, Tuesday at home. That win against the Huskies was the Bruins’ first on their new turf field.

“Shame on the coach,” Costain said. “I did not make it easy on them. We went through murder’s row. When Brian Perkins at Toronto found out they were going to be our first game on the new field, he said that they were going to be our Homecoming Game. We were going to have the OVAC champions as our gimme game.

“It was great to get the first win on our new field last night. We are going to get a lot more. We have an excellent freshmen group. Some of them are in the dugout. They are able to run the bases, and play in different roles. We’re going to enjoy this win.”

With the first two steps complete, Brooke is looking to make a deep run into the postseason.

“I can’t say enough about how proud I am of these guys,” Costain said. “We went through murder’s row. You hope playing teams like that will make you better.”

Brooke 5, North Marion 2

North Marion 001 010 0 – 2 3 1

Brooke 202 010 X – 5 10 4

NORTH MARION (12-12): Lantz LP (4 1/3IP, 4K, 0BB), Owens (1 2/3IP, 4K, 1BB) and Craig. Bland 2S; Craig RBI; Harbert S.

BROOKE (17-13): Murdock WP (8K, 1BB) and A. Provenzano. Murdock S, T; O’Mery 2S; A. Provenzano S, RBI; Anderson 2S, RBI; G. Provenzano S, RBI; Moore S, RBI; Palavis S.