Any high school baseball coach will tell you two things when it comes to game play: treat every opponent like the best team in the district, and keep control once it’s obtained.

BHS achieved both Tuesday night in a 15-0 shutdown of Wingfield.

“You wanna get them in and get them out,” said head coach Matt White. “Scouting reports showed that Wingfield was a young team, but we have to approach every game with our best and get a district win when we can. We’re satisfied with that victory here. We want to take this win and keep it going into our next games this week, try our hardest in the double header and remain injury free.”

Coming into the game, the fans already had BHS being the dominant force against the Wingfield Falcons.

“I had to focus on throwing strikes and hope the defense would do their job and keep up the great work, and they did that,” said senior pitcher Tyler Mixon.

“We do need to get better at selecting pitches to swing at when we are at the plate.”

The first defensive series of the Panthers’ gameplay exuded their sheer dominance. Mixon struck out the first batter and set the tone for the game ahead — it would be a short time on the field.

“Even facing a team like that can really make things go bad in a hurry, and we have to make the easy plays,” said senior shortstop Clint Stephens. “We can take momentum from any win and take it into much stiffer competition, especially our next opponent, Sumrall.”

Shortly after letting an error allow for a runner to make it on base, the Panthers closed out the first part of the inning with a classic double play.

“You feel kind of bad playing a team like this — you don’t want to come out and just keep putting it to them and piling it on,” said junior catcher Jacob Porter. “But with a team like this, you want to work on fundamentals of the game — batting average, stolen bases, things like that.”

The first at-bat for the Panthers further proved the difference in baseball skill and ability between them and the Falcons. After going through the entire lineup once and half the lineup again in the first inning, Brookhaven racked up 10 runs.

“You have to remain focused and not take your opponent for granted,” said junior left-fielder Sevante Quinn. “We never want to play down to an opponent, and we want to face each team with the same mentality.”

The Panthers excelled on both sides of the field and made it quite clear they’d be done by the third inning.

“Our hitting game was really good tonight and something we have been really focusing on in practice,” said senior center fielder Logan Emfinger. “We have to play every team like they’re the best team in the state, and that’s what we did.”

With the 15-run rule taking effect, Brookhaven ended the game after the third inning with a final score of 15-0.

“Staying focused, making team plays and needing your pitcher to throw strikes is all you can do in a game like this,” said junior third-baseman Corbin Falvey. “Walking away from a win like this, you just wanna continue to district and remain focused.”

Brookhaven will face Wingfield again on Friday and will face Sumrall on Saturday. Both games will be held at Moyer Field. Friday night’s games will begin at 5 p.m., and Saturday’s games will begin at 11 a.m.

Story by Paden Phillips