Photo by Andrew Grimm Post 1's Reece Davis is greeted after a grand slam vs. Post 33 on Friday.

STEUBENVILLE — Wheeling Post 1 welcomed Steubenville Post 33 back into the ranks of American Legion Baseball with a reminder that they’re a powerhouse.

Wheeling jumped ahead to an early lead on the upstart Steubenville squad and had a big inning late to put away a 15-0 victory on Fred Heatherington Field at the Crimson Complex Friday evening.

“It was a big test to start out with and we have a lot of young guys,” Steubenville head coach Lee Bainbridge said. “They threw well, they hit well, they did what Post 1 does, they’re a winning program.”

The game was Post 33’s first contest as a legion team in three years as they did not field a team the last two summers. They featured a youthful line up on Friday.

“We have a lot of young guys and we saw some good things, we’re only going to get better from here,” _ added.

Post 1, which had a couple of local products in the line up in Weir’s Aleks Zanieski and Brooke’s Andrew Murdock, improved to 5-0 on the campaign. Wheeling is the defending state champion in West Virginia.

“We got off to a good start, got a little stagnate in the middle, but the offense showed up, a little late, but better late than never,” Wheeling coach Scott Castilow said. “Steubenville is younger but they have talent over there, it’s a good win for us.”

Murdock had a big impact for the visitors, finishing with two triples, a single and a pair of RBIs.

Zanieski drew two walks and scored a run.

After Wheeling jumped ahead 3-0 in the first, Post 33 settled in and held them to a run each in the third, fourth and fifth. In the sixth, however, Post 1 exploded for nine runs to break things open, a Reece Davis grand slam highlighting the big inning.

“We like to swing it and hit the long ball,” Castilow said. “In five games that’s our fifth one, so we’re averaging one a game right now. It’s always exciting for the guys.”

Wheeling’s Tucker Doty threw all six innings, striking out eight and walking two and holding Steubenville to one hit, a single from Big Red’s Royal Mayo.

Steubenville used four arms, Big Red’s Chase Beall and Catholic Central’s Joseph Vranish each tossing two innings.

UP NEXT

Wheeling: Was set to take on Beverly Lowell Post 389/750 on Saturday in a battle of last year’s Ohio and West Virginia state champions at Wheeling Park High School.

Steubenville: Takes on St. Clairsville Post 159 on the road on Sunday afternoon.