Staff photo / Dan Hiner McDonald’s Quinn Schmidt hits a three-run single to left field during the third inning of Monday’s game against Lowellville.

STRUTHERS — Sometimes the baseball gods set someone up for a big day. And McDonald’s Quinn Schmidt was the beneficiary on Monday.

Schmidt came up twice in the first three innings with the bases loaded and two outs. He delivered with bases-clearing hits in McDonald’s 14-2 win over Lowellville at Bob Cene Park.

Of the nine runs scored by the Blue Devils in the second and third innings, six came off of Schmidt’s bat.

“It’s awesome. To be able to get out there and provide for the team, it means something to me,” Schmidt said. “I come out here, I want to play my best for these guys, for my teammates. I just wanna play good for them. I feel like I delivered today, so I feel pretty good about that.”

It took an inning for the Blue Devils (11-3, 8-0 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier) to really get the bats going. Lowellville led 2-1 at the end of the first, but the visitors broke things open in the second.

Chayse Hickox hit a leadoff triple to left-center in the second. He came in on a single to right by Anthony Larson, tying the game at 2.

The Blue Devils loaded the bases with two outs, and they cleared them on a misplayed ball in left field that dropped for a three-RBI double for Schmidt.

The top of the third started with Jacob Bowser taking the first pitch off the helmet, and Jaxson Candel entered to run for him. Larson added a one-out single to center. Ruger Komives drove in Candel with an RBI single to left field, and a throwing error on a steal attempt allowed Larson to score.

The Blue Devils loaded the bases for Schmidt for a second straight inning with two outs. He delivered with a full-count single to left, and with the runners moving on the pitch, all three crossed to push McDonald’s lead to 10-2.

McDonald starter Brady Shobel was relieved by Nick Larson in the middle of the bottom of the third. Shobel allowed two runs on three hits in 2 2/3 innings of work.

In the top of the fourth, Hickox doubled with one out to right-center field, and Anthony Larson scored him on a single to left, extending McDonald’s lead to 11-2.

Jordan Perry reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second in the fifth. He scored on an RBI single to left by Brady Klockner.

The Blue Devils loaded the bases for a third time, and this go-around, it was Candel delivering a two-run single to make it a 14-2 game.

Nick Larson struck out two and allowed a walk in 1 1/3 innings pitched. Kyle Puckett came on to pitch the bottom of the fifth, and he recorded a 1-2-3 frame to end the game.

Tyler Tuscano tripled for Lowellville (6-9, 5-6 MVAC Scarlet) in the second inning, and he got the start on the mound. He pitched a complete game in the loss.

“That’s a really good McDonald team,” Lowellville head coach Adam Kawecki said. “They put the ball in play. We didn’t make any errors, they just found the hole and got things done. But like I said to (his team) out in the outfield, we can learn a lot from playing a team like that.”

The Blue Devils have gotten back on track after dropping a game to Fitch on April 23. They’ve won their last three and are scheduled to face the Rockets again today in McDonald.

“We were off for five days. We didn’t really know what to expect,” McDonald head coach Andy Timko said after Monday’s game. “We practiced last night. The kids came out, they hit it hard. Baseball’s like that. We could come out tomorrow and try to scratch for a hit, but today, they hit the ball.”