BOURBON - Music doesn't boom over any loudspeakers at Triton's baseball field, because there aren't any speakers.

But after what these Triton fans saw Monday afternoon, they needed to make noise. So they did the next best thing. Those fans sitting in their cars watching the game against Tippecanoe Valley honked their horns.

They watched Cory Monesmith and David Sauer, the third and fourth hitters in Triton's lineup, hit back-to-back home runs over the center-field fence. Each rounded the bases to the sound of blaring car horns. Their blasts pushed Triton's lead to 11-1 after only three innings.

Yep, the day couldn't have been much better for Triton fans. They saw home runs, solid pitching and exceptional defense. They also saw their veteran Triton squad beat Tippecanoe Valley 13-3 in five innings.

"When we came out, I thought this was a team we should beat," Triton coach Jim Shively said. "I didn't think we'd beat them like we did. We hit the ball exceptionally well. (Brad) Hargrave came out and had no walks; on defense, we had no errors."

Shively said he would have a good-hitting team this year, and so far, his players have proved him right. The Trojans are 4-1, and all four wins are by 10 runs or more. The Trojans have scored at least 13 runs in each of the wins. Their hitters were 15 for 29 against Valley.

The top of the lineup did the damage against the Vikings. The first four hitters - Scott Blackford, Kevin Oxley, Monesmith and Sauer - went 9 for 13 against Valley pitchers Matt Bose and Orville Haney. Monesmith was 3 for 3 with five RBIs and two runs.

And, as Shively pointed out afterward, the bottom two hitters set the table for them. The eight and nine hitters, Nate Setser and Hargrave, each went 2 for 3. Hargrave scored two runs and drove in two runs.

"The top four in the lineup are our seniors," Shively said. "Then we had Hargrave hitting ninth, and he's our other senior. He got hits in front of those guys."

The Trojans jumped on Bose in the second inning, sending 11 men to the plate en route to scoring seven runs. Bose was victimized by Valley's defense in the inning, as a handful of errors led to five unearned runs.

Triton went ahead 7-1 after two innings. The lead ballooned to 11-1 after three innings after Monesmith's three-run homer and Sauer's solo shot. Haney relieved Bose after the third inning.

With the big lead, Hargrave did what every coach looks for: he threw strikes. He faced 18 batters and threw a first-pitch strike to 12 of them. He went the distance, striking out five in five innings.

"Hargrave jumped ahead of the hitters," Shively said. "He has a good curveball, slider and knuckleball. When he throws that first ball in there for a strike, people are in trouble."

But the one area of the game that may have pleased Shively the most was defense. Right before the Triton players ran out to their positions before the game, Shively gathered them in the dugout. Last week Triton had a handful of errors in a 7-4 home loss to South Bend LaSalle.

The last thing Shively told his players this game? Play good defense.

His players listened. The first hitter of the game, R.J. Hutchison, drove the ball into right field. It looked good for at least a single. It never fell. Triton right fielder Derek Ganshorn went airborne, diving to his left to catch the ball.

Triton finished with zero errors.

"We didn't misplay balls in the outfield," Shively said. "In the infield, we picked them all up. Our goal for tonight was to have no unearned runs. We did that."

Bose provided the one Valley highlight. His home run to over the fence in right-center gave the Vikings the 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

Triton has a 4:30 p.m. Thursday game at Mishawaka Marian.

"I said at the beginning of the year we will take care of the teams we should take care of," Shively said. "We will beat up on average pitching. It's what we do against good pitching. We have Mishawaka Marian and Concord this week, and I'm sure we'll see better pitching.

"Hopefully, we'll do the job then. We did exactly what we wanted to do tonight." [[In-content Ad]]