An offensive explosion lifted Carbon County’s Battle Baseball past Hawaii-Kai in a dominant 10-3 performance in the one-loss bracket of the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament Thursday afternoon in Price.

Faced with a win-or-go-home situation for the second consecutive day, Battle took control early, scoring nine runs in the first four innings. The quick start at the plate was matched with a stellar defensive performance as Hawaii was held scoreless until the bottom of the fifth.

Nate Tatton paced Battle’s offense as he finished with 3-4 at the plate with one RBI, one run, and a walk. Jacen Urbanik ended 2-4 with a double and one RBI. Callen Donaldson laced two singles in four plate appearances, also bringing in two runs.

Austin Leonard earned the win on the mound as he pitched 4.2 strong innings, allowing only one hit and one earned run, while fanning five batters. Offensively, Leonard made the most of his four plate appearances, registering two hits, stealing one base, and scoring three runs.

Defensively, Battle was on point from the beginning. Second baseman Alex Martinez recorded seven putouts and made multiple plays in the middle infield, keeping Hawaii from scoring early.  Jaxton Smith worked the final 2.1 innings, surrendering one hit in the comfortable win.

Thursday’s win places Battle among the final four teams in the tournament, which will continue through Saturday. To win the championship, Battle will need to win five games between Friday morning and Saturday evening.

Battle will return to the field at 8:30 a.m. on Friday to meet Hawaii-COBA. The two teams squared off on Tuesday, with Hawaii emerging victorious in a thrilling nine-inning contest.

A win for Battle on Friday morning would put them in another game at noon on Friday against either Northern California’s Bel Mateo or Tri-Valley at Carbon High School. A loss would bring their tournament journey to a close.

The Battle 13U baseball team is coached by Darek Martinez, Rob Smith, Justin Powell, and Timmy Urbanik. The team consists of Callen Donaldson, Jack Madrid, Austin Leonard, Jacen Urbanik, Rigden Rhoten, Jaxton Smith, Alex Martinez, Mason Powell, Jace Bosone, Jacen Cowley, and Nate Tatton.