CHERRY TWP - Grabbing an early lead Tuesday was important to Nathan Markle - so he tended to the matter personally.

Markle's two-run triple gave Moniteau the lead in the first inning and the Warriors rode the senior's right arm to a 5-3 high school baseball victory over Karns City.

Moniteau built a 5-0 lead in the first three innings before hanging on for the win against Gremlins ace Tyler Callihan.

"There are four dominant pitchers in our league this year and two of them were out here today," Karns City coach Rocky Brown said. "Hayden Johnston (Clarion-Limestone) and Union's Adam Milanovich are also in that class.

"Markle's the fastest pitcher we've seen this season and it took us a couple of innings to time his fastball. Once we did, we made fairly steady contact."

Both pitchers were around the plate all day. Markle threw 101 pitches, 70 for strikes. Callihan threw 90 pitches, 68 for strikes.

The game was played in an hour and 45 minutes.

"Getting the lead helps me as a pitcher," Markle said. "It makes me relax on the mound a lot more."

Markle struck out nine - including four of the first six batters he faced - and walked none. He got a 2-0 lead in the first inning when his triple to right field followed Josh Warburton's single and Garth Kohlmeyer reaching on an infield error.

The Warriors scored three more times in the third on Kohlmeyer's RBI single, a run-scoring double by Cory Campbell and an RBI triple by Travis Shaffer.

"I get pumped up for games like this," Markle said. "Not just because Tyler's pitching, but it's Karns City vs. Moniteau. The two schools have been rivals for a long, long time and we haven't beaten them in a while."

Tuesday's win was Moniteau's first baseball triumph over the Gremlins in three years.

Karns City nibbled at the lead by scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Matt Allen tripled and scored on an infield error in the fourth, Ryan Earley singled home Kyle Texter in the fifth and Allen scored on a wild pitch in the sixth.

But the Gremlins couldn't get a runner on base in the seventh.

"Nathan got a second wind," Moniteau coach Arnie Trufley said. "He bore down in that final inning.

"Nathan's 3-0 now and he's a .400 hitter. He plays shortstop when he doesn't pitch and he's solid defensively, too."

Moniteau averages six stolen bases per game, but managed only two Tuesday. Karns City catcher Allen threw out three runners on the bases.

"We like to be aggressive, but he (Allen) has a strong arm back there," Trufley said.

Callihan struck out eight and walked two in taking the loss. He allowed only one hit over the final three innings.

"We were a little flat at the start of the game and it cost us," Brown said. "It's tough falling behind by five against a kid like Markle.

"We needed something like this. This is a good wake-up call. We lost this game, but I still feel like we're just as good a team."

Warburton had two singles and scored two runs for Moniteau. Allen had a triple, single and scored twice for Karns City.

Karns City 000 111 0 - 3 5 2

Moniteau 203 000 x - 5 7 1

WP:

Nathan Markle (7 IP) 9 strikeouts, 0 walks.

LP:

Tyler Callihan (6 IP) 8 strikeouts, 2 walks

Karns City (4-1):

Matt Allen 3B 1B 2-R, Tyler Callihan RBI, Kyle Texter 1B, Ryan Earley 1B RBI, Spencer Collins 1B

Moniteau (4-1-1):

Josh Warburton 2-1B 2-R, Garth Kohlmeyer 1B RBI 2-R, Nathan Markle 3B 2-RBI, Cory Campbell 2B RBI, Travis Shaffer 3B RBI, Ryan Eberlein 1B

Thursday:

Karns City @ East Forest, Moniteau @ Clarion-Limestone