There are always sibling rivalries, but have you ever heard about two cousins battling? Well, in the Heinrich League, cousins Justin Walthall of the Athletics and Dustin Walthall of the Pirates played one another at Holcom Park on Wednesday.

Justin said it’s less of a rivalry because every time his team plays Dustin’s team, Dustin’s team usually wins as it did Wednesday, 12-1.

“It’s hard losing sometimes but it’s not as bad when the score is closer,” Justin said, about the times he’s lost to Dustin.

The Pirates opened up the game with six runs in the first inning. Pirate Seth Dirks-Ham, lead off with a hit, starting a trend of hot bats for his team.

Although Pirates Head coach Mark McCarthy said that his team was “a little sluggish on hitting,” they scored in every inning.

The first inning was the most crucial and damaging for the Athletics because the Pirates took an early 6-0 advantage.

“It always gives you an advantage when you jump out in the lead early,” McCarthy said.

He said an early lead could sometimes throw the other team off mentally and strategically. McCarthy said he and his team used this to their advantage.

Pirate Alex Hall bats a run for his team in the first inning at Holcom Park on Wednesday. The Pirates defeated the Athletics 12-1.

After gathering a lead, he said his team didn’t have to worry as much defensively, but could put more pressure on the Athletics’ defense. Also, his team could do more of what they wanted to with the early lead, such as change players’ positions and allow those who are sitting on the bench a chance to play.

McCarthy said he was proud of his team’s performance. “This was a good team effort, without complete team effort, individual effort doesn’t make much of a difference,” he said.

Dillon Roy scored the A’s only run in the game in the second, when lead off with a double to put himself in scoring position.

His teammate A.J. Gilbert followed up with a double, allowing Roy to score.

The next batter was tagged out at second base. Athletics Austin Flory had a base hit but was out at second base on a stolen base attempt. Gilbert was left on base because the next batter was out at first.

The third and fourth innings followed patterns of the first couple of innings. The Athletics did not score in either inning, while the Pirates added one run in the third and two runs in the fourth to expand their lead to 10-1.

The fifth inning would be a last ditch effort by the Athletics. If they did not score, the game would be called because of the run-rule.

The Pirates added two insurance runs to put the game further out of reach when Alex Hall and Dustin Walthall scored.

The Athletics had no answer, as they were unable to score in the fifth inning.

McCarthy joked that he couldn’t take all of the credit for his team’s victory.

“Lots of credit goes to my assistant coaches. They deserve credit.” McCarthy said.

Both of his assistant coaches have high school and college experience, which McCarthy said is extremely helpful for the team. His assistant coach Brad Harker is a K-State graduate and Aaron Wilmes is a KU graduate. Both hail from Lawrence High School.