It was the 10U White division Coyotes who emerged victorious last Wednesday in their Douglas County Amateur Baseball Association game against the Pirates 19-8.

The Coyotes won, 19-8, but Pirate Caleb Heston’s ground-rule double in the last inning ended the game on a high note for the Pirates.

“We’ve really started to see signs of his progress from the clinic,” said Jim Ellis, one of the Pirates coaches, about Heston’s recent participation at a Kansas University hitting clinic.

Heston attributed his long ball to the pregame batting practice he took with his father, Sean Heston.

Heston’s double came late in the fifth, just before time was called on the game for reaching the two-hour mark, gave the Pirates a high note despite their season-opening loss.

Pirate catcher Dustin Vickers hits the ground after catching the foul ball April 19 at 4-H Wrigley Field. The Pirates and Coyotes squared off in the 10U White division match-up with the Coyotes surging ahead in the fourth inning with eight runs to go on and win 19-8.

The Coyotes took an early lead and never let up. Blake Winslow recorded one of the first hits of the game, which scored Matt Carmody for the early advantage. Kieran Severa followed with another hit for the two-run lead.

The Pirates scored once in the bottom half of the first and then put up four more runs in the second. Hunter Dedloff hit a single and Brandon Ellis contributed a double, but the Coyotes still found themselves trailing, 6-5.

Pirates coach Sean Heston said his team needs to continue to work on its fundamentals this early in the season.

Pirate Carter Gearke leads off third base, as Coyote third baseman Patrick Friedrichson stands ready for the play April 19 at 4-H Wrigley Field.

“Right now we are trying to learn the fundamentals, that are helpful to the younger kids who haven’t played baseball before,” he said.

The Coyotes continued to distance themselves with five more runs in the third, but put the game away with eight runs in the fourth. Tucker Sutter swung away with a big hit that sent Severa home. Dylan Mckee lined a single that brought another teammate home and Samuel Boatright brought two more Coyotes in with another base knock.

Ellis said the loss gave the team an idea of what they need to work on in practice to better themselves for the rest of the season.

“Our infield is really solid, but we need to work on our pitching,” Ellis said. “We will also be working on batting in this week’s practice.”