MARS — Finishing second may be good enough for some, but it doesn't sit well with Mars' Eagle County League baseball team.

Last year, the squad lost to Mars II in the championship series, marking the first time in seven years that Brendan Malone's club didn't claim the league title.

After earning the No. 1 seed for the playoffs with a 24-2 record in the regular season, Mars on Monday began what it hopes is a rewarding playoff run with a dominating effort.

Jim Devine pitched a four-hit shutout and Dan Penberthy highlighted the offense with a monstrous home run in a 7-0 blanking of Pine-Richland in the first game of a best-of-five semifinal series at Marburger Field.

“Until someone beats Mars II, they are the defending champion,” said Malone, a player/manager, “but I do think we are the team to beat. We've lost just two games all season.”

Devine allowed just two baserunners over the first four innings and received a healthy lead from his teammates at the plate.

With his team already leading 1-0, Penberthy deposited a Blaine Crawford pitch into the trees beyond the left-center field fence for a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning.

Crawford then allowed four straight singles to begin the fourth frame. Scott Ventura, Bob Spithaler and Rick Krist each tallied RBI-singles in the frame and Malone's sacrifice fly brought home another run for a 7-0 lead.

“We still have the same core of guys in our lineup,” said Malone, “but we've had some younger guys come in and fill the spots left by players who just got too old and retired.”

Earlier this season, Crawford had held Mars' lineup in check, though Pine-Richland ended up losing the game.

On Monday, he allowed the seven runs on 12 hits in four innings.

“The difference today was he wasn't hitting his spots,” said Pine-Richland manager Jeff Kline. “He hung a couple of curveballs and you do that to Mars' guys, the ball is usually going to end up in the gap or over the fence.”

In the top of the fifth inning, Devine walked Matt Dayton with one out and surrendered a two-out single to J.R. Willard. But Devine struck out Tyler Perenic to end the threat.

Devine also stranded a pair of runners in the seventh and finished the game with 10 strikeouts and three walks.

“We know what we're getting when Jim's out there,” said Malone, who plays center field. “We assume he's going to have double-digit strikeouts. It was kind of a boring day in the outfield, but it was nice.”

Kline knows falling behind 0-2 to Mars would leave his team in a huge hole.

“Coming in here, we had been hitting the ball pretty well and I am disappointed,” he said. “We could have folded when it was 7-0, but I thought we had better at-bats late in the game. I'm proud of the way our guys battled.”

Pine-Richland (14-16) will host Game 2 tonight.

Pine-Richland 000 000 0 — 0 4 0

Mars 102 400 x — 7 12 0

W: Jim Devine 7 IP (10K, 3BB). L: Blaine Crawford 4 IP (2K, 1BB).

Pine-Richland (14-16): Zach Sharrer 1B, Zach Staszak 1B, Matt Dayton 1B, J.R. Willard 1B

Mars (25-2): Sam Sibeto Sr. 1B R, Brendan Malone 2-1B 2R RBI, Bob Spithaler 1B 2B RBI, Dan Penberthy HR 2RBI, Rick Krist 2-1B RBI, Payton Russienello 1B R, Scott Ventura 1B 2B R RBI, Joe Sibeto 1B R

Today: Mars at Pine-Richland, Game 2, 6 p.m.