WHEELING - The Wheeling Post 1 American Legion baseball team rolled into the Edgar Martin Beast of the East Tournament with its bats on fire Thursday afternoon at the soggy Chambers I-470 Complex.

Manager Tom Pasco's club pounded out 12 hits, including five doubles, while overpowering the East Ontario Diamondbacks, 8-3.

Wheeling, 12-9 overall, had it's first scheduled game of the day against the North Division Knights cancelled when rain halted play in the bottom of the first inning.

The Wheeling Central connection of Tim Mirandy and Andrew ''Budda'' Henry sparked Post 1's offensive explosion. Mirandy enjoyed a perfect day at the plate, stroking two doubles along with a single and a walk. He drove in a pair of runs as did Henry, who also doubled twice.

Another Wheeling double was provided by Brian Coen, who also collected an RBI with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt in the second inning.

Joining the Post 1 bat parade with two hits was Alex Stephens, both of which were singles. Stephens also accounted for an RBI with a squeeze bunt in the fifth inning. Jon-Michael Brunner and Matt Carnahan each contributed with RBI singles.

''We hit the ball with authority,'' Pasco said. ''You've also got to credit our hitters for making some good adjustments early in the game.

''Their pitcher was doing a nice job of throwing the ball soft and away from our hitters. We were able to go out and hit the ball hard the other way.

''We also threw some small ball at them with some bunts that paid off for us.''

Although Chris Kiedaisch went hitless, he contributed by moving up runners with a couple of nice sacrifice bunts that earned him some high fives when he returned to the dugout.

Wheeling, batting first, jumped ahead 2-0 as Brunner opened by drawing a walk while Stephens followed with an infield single that was flagged down deep in the hole at shortstop. Two outs later, Henry found the left-center gap with a ringing double that plated both runners.

Mirandy, reaching across the dish, began the second inning by lacing an outside pitch into right-center for his first two-base knock. Kiedaisch bunted him along to third and he scored a couple of seconds later when Coen pushed a bunt down the first-base line which went for an RBI single.

Post 1 continued its early assault against Diamondbacks' lefty Shawn Slemko in the third inning by adding two more runs for a 5-0 lead. Scott Castilow singled between the third baseman and the bag with one out. He advanced to third on Henry's second straight double, this one nearly reaching the fence in right-center. Mirandy then drove an off-speed pitch down the right-field line for a two-base hit that knocked in Castilow and Henry.

Leading 5-2 entering the top of the sixth, Wheeling broke through for three more runs. Mirandy singled, Coen doubled and Brunner knocked in one run with his base hit. Stephens was thrown out at first but his squeeze bunt brought home Coen. Carnahan then rapped a sharp single to right to score Brunner from second base.

Warren Hammel pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs, both of which were unearned. R.J Vargo relieved in the fifth inning and picked up a victory, allowing one run. Combined, they surrendered nine hits without yielding a walk.

''Warren, on just two-days rest, gave us four solid innings,'' Pasco pointed out.

Hammel, the former Linsly ace now pitching at West Virginia Wesleyan, was the winning hurler Monday night when Post 1 defeated Moundsville Post 3 in an important American Legion Area One contest.

''We were hoping to get five innings but four was good enough. Maybe we will be able to bring him back for a couple of innings later this weekend. R.J came in and was very efficient,'' Pasco added.

The Diamondbacks, 1-1 in the Beast of the East event, took advantage of a Wheeling error to score twice in the fourth inning. Following the error, Jaymee Young collected a single and both runners scored on Tyler Bader's long double that bounced off the fence in right field.

Ontario's final run came in the bottom of the seventh after leadoff singles by Christian Chavez and Wayne Feltham. The run scored when Eamonn Rodgers hit a one-hopper to the right side that Stephens turned into a nifty 4-6-3 doubleplay. Jacob Featherstone then flied to Clark Sambuco in centerfield for the final out.