CALLERY — Turn back the clock 10 years and you'd see Rob Fester and Mike Sheehy leading the charge for the Mars Eagle County League baseball team.

Fast forward to Wednesday and you'd see the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In the first game of the best-of-five championship series against Saxonburg, Fester pitched a four-hitter and Sheehy belted a two-run double and a two-run homer to lead Mars to an 8-1 victory.

After allowing one run on two hits in the first inning, Fester allowed only two hits and didn't allow a runner past first base the rest of the way.

"Saxonburg is a good-hitting team and you have to buckle down and pitch," said Fester. "It was hot and I was loose. It's always fun to pitch in that kind of weather."

Sheehy erased the 1-0 deficit with a two-run double down the left-field line off Saxonburg starter Shaun Butler in the bottom of the first. That gave Mars a lead it would not surrender.

"He's our hammer," said Fester. "He's healthy and we haven't had a healthy Mike Sheehy the past two years."

Saxonburg scored its run when Curt Schnur lined a two-out single to score Brendan Malone.

Mars tacked on single runs in the second and fourth innings on a fielder's choice RBI by Matt Nowakowski and an RBI single by Bob Harris, respectively, to take a 4-1 lead.

"Shaun twisted his knee in the second inning," said Saxonburg manager Dan Cunningham. "It made things pretty difficult for him, but he's a fighter. He wanted to stay in."

Butler pitched five innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. He also hit two batters in the fourth inning.

It was the fifth inning that allowed Mars to pull away.

With one out, Matt Colella doubled and Sheehy hit a home run over the left-center field fence.

Fester singled, Dan DeMarco walked and Ron Talik singled to load the bases. After Butler fanned Ryan Salazar, Harris added a two-run single that closed out the scoring.

"That home run broke the game open," said Cunningham. "It stretched their lead and made it a little easier for them to do what they needed. The whole strategy of the game changes when that happens. It becomes a little harder to come all the way back."

"You can pick anyone in our lineup to hit," said Fester on Harris' three-RBI contribution. "It's a solid lineup from 1 through 10. I'm not surprised. Anyone can step up and hit."

Game 2 in the best-of-five series moves to Highfield, where Schnur will face Mars' Chris Kelly.

Saxonburg 100 000 0—1 4 0Mars I 210 140 x—8 11 1Shaun Butler, Brendan Malone (6, 0 K, 0 BB) and Justin Demek; Rob Fester and Dan DeMarco.

W: Fester (7 K, 0 BB).

L: Butler (7 K, 2 BB).

Saxonburg (23-8): Brendan Malone 1B; Curt Schnur 1B, RBI; Steve Hall 1B; Adam Milanovich 1B

Mars I (28-3): Matt Nowakowski RBI; Matt Colella 1B, 2B; Mike Sheehy 2B, HR, 4 RBI; Rob Fester 1B; Ron Talik 2-1B; Ryan Salazar 1B; Bob Harris 2-1B, 3 RBI; Sam Sibeto 1B

Today: Game 2-Mars vs. Saxonburg at Highfield