Photo by Cody Nespor Wellsburg Post 34 first baseman Hunter Mozingo tags Wheeling Post 1's Jack Selmon during a pickoff attempt while the two teams play at I-470 Thursday.

ELM GROVE — Jon-Michael Brunner wants his team to spend this week focusing on themselves as Wheeling Post 1 makes its final preparations for the start of next week’s Area 1 Tournament.

Two points of emphasis Brunner is focusing on this week are hitting with runners on base and doing the little things on defense. Post 1 (22-13) did both beautifully Thursday in a 12-2, mercy rule-shortened win over area foe Wellsburg Post 34 at the J.B. Chamber I-470 Sports Complex.

Post 1 cashed in on nearly all of its chances on offense, scoring a dozen runs on just nine hits.

“They hit the ball well and hit the ball well with guys in scoring position,” Brunner said. “They were seeing the ball well today and just made good contact.”

Post 34, too, is preparing for the area tournament and got off to a very promising start Thursday.

Wellsburg had been no-hit in a game the day before and manager Micah Knisely really wanted his players to swing the bats well out of the gate Thursday.

“We watch too many strikes go by and then we just don’t put contact on it,” Knisely said of his team’s sluggish offense. “We’ll just miss (the ball) and end up with a dinker to third or an easy pop up.”

Thursday was a different story, however, as three of Wellsburg’s first four batters recorded base hits. Matt Swanson’s single brought home Ian Robinson and Lester Gajtka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded two batters later to drive in another for a 2-0 lead.

“For some of them it’s their last chance to play baseball, so I just want them to have fun,” Knisely said. “It’s a fun game, win or lose.”

Post 1’s offense stayed hot in the bottom frame, however, as Zach Taylor hit a two-run triple, Nate Simon brought him home two batters later and Jack Selmon drove in Simon with a double to give the hosts a 5-2 lead after the first frame.

Wheeling starter Dylan Hodgson recovered from a shaky first inning and allowed just two base hits over the final four innings to produce a tidy linescore of two runs in five innings with two strikeouts.

“He’s had really good starts for us the last five times he’s been out,” Brunner said. “Again (Thursday), he struggled a little bit in the first, but he came back and did a good job.”

Braydon Kupsky hit a run-scoring triple in the bottom of the second for a 6-2 lead.

Post 34 threatened in the top of the third with two on and no outs, but Brunner’s focus on defense paid off as Post 1 turned a double play to eliminate the threat. First baseman Quinn Jamison flashed the leather in the third, making an impressive stretch at the base to complete the double play and then snagging a hard ground ball and taking it to the base himself for the final out.

“Defensively he’s like a vacuum at first,” Brunner said. “He’s a guy that’s really a cornerstone for the defense. We have a couple of guys out of position a little bit defensivley and it helps out knowing he’s going to make those tough plays.”

Brunner said Jamison’s ability to stretch and pick throws out of the dirt at first base gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the infield.

Post 1 added three more runs in the bottom of the third and eventually led 9-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jared Marsh singled home Kyle White and later scored on a passed ball and Kupsky hit a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 12-2 and end the game early.

Marsh finished with three hits and an RBI. Taylor had a single, triple and two RBI while Kupsky had a triple and two RBI and Selmon had an RBI and a double.

Swanson finished with three hits and an RBI for Post 34.

Wellsburg will not play again until the start of the area tournament next Tuesday.

Wheeling will take on Parkersburg Post 15 on the road today and play a doubleheader against Follansbee Post 45 and Beckley Post 32 at I-470 on Saturday.

Wheeling 12, Wellsburg 2, 5 innings

Wel 2-0-0 0-0 — 2 5 2

Whg 5-1-3 0-3 — 12 9 1

WELLSBURG — Mozingo lp (1K, 1BB), Gajtka (2) (0K, 4BB), Vanderpool (5) (1K, 0BB) and O’Mery. Swanson 3S, rbi; Gajtka rbi.

WHEELING — Hodgson wp (2K, 2BB) and Z. Taylor. A. Taylor A, rbi; Marsh 3S, rbi; Z. Taylor S, T, 2rbi; Braydon Kupsky T, 2rbi; Simon S, rbi; Selmon D, rbi.