The Iowa City West High Trojans increased their record to 14-4 after taking on the Washington Warriors Monday night. West topped the Warriors, 9-2, in a tough battle.

The Trojans and Warriors played hard on offense and defense to lead off the game. Both teams were even with no hits until the third inning. At that time, the Warriors pulled ahead, 2-0.

The Washington designated hitter hit a triple to the center field fence, sending a runner on first base around to score the first run of the game. An error by Trojan first baseman Declan Doyle brought home the second Washington run.

Washington’s offensive surge could have worried West pitcher Luke Crimmins, but he didn’t allow the runs to affect his pitching.

"I had good movement on my pitches," Crimmins said. "They had a good pitcher, but I knew we could get some runs on the board. We’re a good team."

The faith that Crimmins had in his team seemed to pay off when the Trojans were able to get a run on the board in the following inning.

After stealing second and third base, Trojan third baseman Kellen Yoder took advantage of a passed ball. Yoder ran home and scored the Trojan’s first of many runs.

Even while holding the Trojans hitless in the first four innings, Washington’s pitcher did allow 9 walks. The walks were what helped put the Trojans on base in the first place.

Following the first run, the Trojans held the Warriors to 2 runs and pulled ahead, 3-2, in the fifth after consecutive hits by Crimmins and Yoder.

Trojan head coach Charlie Stumpff said that what eventually turned around for the Trojans was that they were able to see "an awful lot of pitches" from the Washington pitcher, which eventually led to them hitting the ball. That picked up the Trojans for the rest of the game.

The Warriors made a pitching change at the beginning of the sixth inning after the Trojans started hitting. The Washington pitcher had pitched more than 100 pitches when the Trojans finally woke up their bats.

"Getting hits took him out of the game," Yoder said.

West continued to increase the lead with a final rally in the sixth inning, scoring 6 times. The Trojans loaded the bases early on a double, bunt, and walk.

Two base hits followed, scoring 2 more runs and making it a 3-run lead at 5-2. With the bases still loaded, Doyle brought in another run after being hit by a pitch. Crimmins hit a double into left field to finish the inning, bringing in the final 2 runs for the Trojans.

West finished with strong defense and kept the Warriors from scoring.

As West prepared for the second game of the night, Stumpff hoped that the team could continue hitting the ball.