After Danville loaded the bases at Giles Field in a crucial HAC matchup with no outs in the top of the first inning on Monday, Montoursville had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed.

Brayden McCourt struck out Ironmen cleanup hitter Lincoln Diehl and induced a tailor-made one-hopper for an inning-ending double play. But in what would be the theme of the night for the Warriors, they couldn’t make the play.

The ball skipped into center field and eight runs would score in the inning after that play as Montoursville was beaten in a rematch of last year’s District 4 Class AAAA championship game, 13-3, in six innings.

“We came out and we didn’t throw strikes early, and we made a couple mistakes and they made us pay for it. And when you get down against a good quality, well coached team, a senior-laden team like Danville, you give them an eight-spot early, that’s bad news,” Montoursville coach Jeremy Eck said.

The aforementioned play was far from the only mistake the Warriors made in that ill-fated first inning. Three walks and a dropped fly-ball on a tough play, plus some clutch Danville hitting, contributed to that big Ironmen inning.

Eck’s game plan went out the window, and he had to go to his bullpen early, bringing in Jonah Heddings in relief after just two-thirds of an inning for McCourt. And Heddings was able to put goose-eggs on the board in the second and third innings as Montoursville searched for a way back into the game against stellar Danville righty Wyatt Shultz.

They did close the gap in the third inning. They got two men on in the inning with one out inning on base, as Michael Reeder walked and Royce Bowes singled. Then with two outs, McCourt hit a dribbler in front of the pitcher’s mound that was thrown into right field by Shultz, allowing Reeder to score.

That brought up Noah Kirby, and he socked a double to left field that scored two to get the Warriors within 8-3 after three innings.

But Danville quickly answered with one in the fourth and three more in the fifth as mistakes continued to pile up for the Montoursville defense, who made three errors on the day. And at the plate, the Warriors were flummoxed by Shultz.

Shultz only struck out three, but limited Montoursville to just three hits as Montoursville struggled with staying on top of the baseball at the plate.

“I think at one point out of the nine outs, we had three strikeouts and six fly balls. I mean, yeah, you hit the ball in the air. At this level, guys are going to catch it. We’ve got to change our approach a little bit,” Eck said.

Danville added another unearned run in the sixth inning and Montoursville was run-ruled after failing to score in the bottom-half to extend the game. It’s Montoursville’s first loss of the season, and, according to Eck, a bit of a wake-up call.

“We’ve almost 10-runned the first four teams that we’ve played, and this is kind of a wake up call, a rude awakening for us,” Eck said.

Danville 13, Montoursville 3

(6 INNINGS)

Danville 800 131 — 13 9 1

Montoursville 003 000 — 3 3 3

Shultz, Duffy (6) and Ryan Roney. McCourt, Heddings (1), Reeder (5) and Noah Kirby. W: Shultz. L: McCourt.

Top Danville hitters: Matthew Acor 2-2, 2 RBIs, 2 BB. Top Montoursivlle hitters: Royce Bowes 2-3.