JEFFERSONVILLE — In a battle of conference champions, the Hoosier Hills had the edge over the Mid-Southern as Jeffersonville took an early lead and beat Silver Creek 5-1 Wednesday at Don Poole Field.

The Red Devils (14-8) scored in each of the first four innings, while starter Cam Northern kept the Dragons (19-9) bats at bay early.

“We played well, we swung the bats early and we were aggressive,” Jeff coach Derek Ellis said. “Put a little pressure [on Silver Creek].”

Ellis also tipped his hat to the Dragons, and for good reason. Wednesday’s matchup was their 11th game in 11 days.

“It’s been brutal,” Silver Creek coach Joe Decker said of the stretch. “We’re not real deep. In past years when we’ve had this, it’s gotten broken up by rain a little bit, but we were also deeper. We could sub some guys and we could give guys rest. With the way things are this year, we don’t have that luxury. The same nine or 10 guys are going all the time.”

The stretch ended with back-to-back losses to Class 4A teams, but Decker is hopeful the team will benefit from it. The Dragons are now off until they host the 3A Sectional next week.

“I think it’ll be good for us going into sectional,” he said. “I think mentally, we needed a break.”

Ethan English’s 2-run home run to left broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the first inning to give Jeff the lead.

The Devils managed three extra-base hits in the first two innings and led 3-0 through two. The first six Jeff batters all had a hit in the game. Bennie Day was 2-for-3 with a double and bunt for his hits.

On the mound, Northern did not surrender a hit until the fourth inning. He struck out five of the first nine batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 strikeout inning in the second.

Jeff added two runs in the third and fourth innings on RBIs from Hunter Schmitz and Michael Minton. The Devils led 5-0 after four.

Silver Creek’s Bryson McNay broke through in the fourth with the first Dragon hit — a leadoff single to left field. All five of the Silver Creek hits came in the final three innings.

“Our approach at plate was really bad in the first three innings, I’ll give Cam part of the credit for that,” Decker said. “We didn’t take very good swings in the first three innings. In the last four innings, we kind of flipped a switch and it was totally different. We got way more competitive.”

In the fifth, the Dragons got on the scoreboard. Justin Brown led off with a double and scored on Elijah Bays’ single. Bays was 2-for-3 on the night.

Northern was replaced by Michael Minton after the run scored. With Minton on the mound, the Dragons managed four baserunners but couldn’t send any to the plate.

Jeffersonville is back in action on Saturday for a doubleheader in Bloomington. The Devils play South at noon and North at 3 p.m.

After Wednesday’s win, the Devils have won five games in a row. Ellis hopes his team can keep rolling into next week’s Bedford North Lawrence Sectional.

“Hopefully we’re going to have the same approach,” he said. “It’s the same old story — throw strikes, make the routine plays and get timely hits. If we can continue to do that, we’ll stay hot. If we struggle, it’ll be because one of those isn’t in line with the others. We’re going to continue to try do that.”

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JEFFERSONVILLE 5, SILVER CREEK 1

Silver Creek 000 010 0—1 5 0

Jeffersonville 211 100 x—5 7 1

W — Cam Northern (4-1). L — Justin Brown (4-6). 2B — Northern (J), Bennie Day (J), Brown (S). HR — EthanEnglish (J). Records — Silver Creek 19-9, Jeffersonville 14-8.

justin.maskulinski@newsandtribune.com